Stay Strong

Hi Crafty Friends!

Sharing another card with a background made using one of the Media Plates by John Next Door ...

I did use a stencil which created a delicate pattern. It sadly got lost when I added the flowers and blending around the edges. The colours used were Fossilised Amber, Crackling Campfire and Victorian Velvet DIs.

Stencil, sentiment and butterfly by STAMPlorations and flower stamp by Crafty Roo Designs.

Wishing you all a lovely day!

hugs
Monika 💕

Here For You

Hi Crafty Friends!

Here is today's project, my DT piece for the Inspiration Post over on the STAMPlorations blog ...

Another CAS card with a stencilled background from me today. The die-cut butterfly has a solid vellum layer to help it stand out.

Here are the STAMPlorations products I used in today's card:

Wheels Slimline Stencil, Flutter Zen #1 Layering Dies

 

Sketched Blooms for sentiment, now retired; the blooms themselves can now be found as digi stamps here

Should you feel like browsing STAMPlorations' shop, check out their latest offer below.

I've got to be honest, if you use the code and/or the link to the STAMPlorations Shop I provide in my posts for your purchases, I will get a little reward, at no extra cost to you of course.

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to check out my teamies' beautiful makes.

I shall be back soon with more crafty makes. Until then ... have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika ❤

Framed Die-cutting Tutorial

Hi Crafty Friends!

I got a little tutorial for you today. I've basically been playing with some dies to get a framed look.

You may remember my card here from a few weeks ago with the poppy die-cut and the colourful background. It was my first time trying out this idea.

Today's cards will give you a couple more ideas, let's have a look ...

On one card the colour extends to outside the frame through the wings of my butterfly whereas on the other card the colour stays within the rectangle.

To start with I picked the Flutter Zen #1 layering dies and one of the smaller frames from the Basic A2 Panels nesting dies and laid them out on my card base and front to decide on the layout.

Next I die-cut first the butterfly and then the rectangle.

At this point I thought it might be fun to add a variation by cutting the rectangle first and then the butterfly. I cut the rectangle placed it into the one from the first card front, aligned the butterfly and secured it to my rectangle before cutting which gave me the two card fronts below.

I cut two more butterflies for extra layering.

I then masked off around the edges of my base cards and applied some colour. Apologies for swapping the two base cards around in the photo, the sponged rectangle is the one for the butterfly cut from the rectangle, the unevenly blended one for the one with the die-cut wings extending outside of the rectangle. 

The next step is to simply attach the card fronts to their bases before inlaying the butterflies.

I added the partially cut one to the rectangle and added a fully cut shape on top for extra dimension. It looked pretty the way it was, but I wanted the wings to extend into the uncoloured space.

For the second card, I simply double-layered the butterfly before adding it, finishing both cards off with a stamped sentiment.

Here are the STAMPlorations products I used in today's card:

Flutter Zen #1 Layering Dies, Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies

  

The sentiment is from one of their retired sets called Bloom Sketches

Should you feel like browsing STAMPlorations' shop, check out their latest offer below.

I've got to be honest, if you use the code and/or the link to the STAMPlorations Shop I provide in my posts for your purchases, I will get a little reward, at no extra cost to you of course.

That's it from me for today. Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.

I shall be back soon with more crafty makes. Until then ... have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika ❤

Rooting Through Left-Overs

Hello Crafty Friends!

The other day I was rooting through the box where I keep my left-over bits. Those sort of things that might come in handy again. I'm sure you probably got one too.

Here are two cards I made using some of those bits ...

The first one uses a stencil print, a negative die-cut sentiment, die-cut butterfly and border.

The second one uses a couple of die-cut frames, a couple of stamped and coloured feathers and a newly stamped sentiment to finish the card.

Here is a last look at both cards ...

Keeping it short and sweet today. Back soon. Enjoy your day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from
- Stamplorations Online Store:
Retro Circles, Feel Better Soon Phrase Die, Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies
  

Feathery, Feathery Dies
 
Just a quick heads up ...
STAMPlorations are having a birthday sale throughout June. All the products in their shop's 8th Birthday section are on offer at 30% off, no coupon needed. The discount will be automatically applied at checkout. If you love a bargain, you can get an added 20% off by using my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA at checkout.

- my stash:

frame dies, magenta aquarel liquid watercolours, pink embossing powder, gold Artiste spritzing ink, white card, patterned paper, sequins, Stickles

- Stampin'Up!

Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry card, Pumpkin Pie and Pacific Point ink, Pacific Point Stamp'n'write marker, vellum

Things With Wings - May Mixed Media Challenge @ STAMPlorations

Hello, Crafty Friends!

It's Sunday 6th May today which means, it's the start of a new Mixed Media Challenge combined with a Blog Hop & Linky Party over at STAMPlorations. This month we are looking for non-card mixed media makes following the theme of 'Things With Wings' using at least one stencil (any brand).

My DT contribution for May is ... a little tag ....

... not quite in Spring colours, but with a rich golden background, guess I've been digging over too much soil in the garden ready for sowing and planting veggies and hedges hence the earthy feel. 😁

Gold acrylic effect medium on a background of mopped up ink with a bit of stenciling (Christmas Tree 1), stamping (Art Marks, Mixed Media Grunge) and a touch of white Craft ink around the edges for a dreamy look finished off with a beautiful die-cut butterfly (Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies), doodles and gems.

I hope you feel inspired to dig into your crafty resourcefulness and create something to enjoy  .... why not link it up with the Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. The theme for this month's Mixed Media Challenge is 'Things With Wings'. Any mixed media make following the winged theme 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. You can link up as many winged projects as you want as long as they follow the rules and have their own separate blog post. The linky 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.

Ooops, almost forgot to mention the prizes: one winner as chosen by the Mixed Media DT will receive a $15 gift certificate and two randomly drawn winners will receive a $5 gift certificate each, all of course redeemable at the STAMPlorations Shop.

That's it from me for today. I shall be back soon with another project to share. Please leave a comment and join the hop.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount*** on their stamps, stencils and dies:

ARTplorations Stencils/Masks: Christmas Tree 1

STAMPlorations Stamps: Art Marks, Mixed Media Grunge
 

CUTplorations Dies: Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies

*** The personal discount coupon STAMPGIRLMONIKA works on already reduced items too, but can not be combined with any other coupon codes.

Nesting Dies - Take 1

Hello Crafty Friends!

A project without stamping for you today, hope you like it! The bag was made as a Spotlight Tutorial for STAMPlorations which can be found on their blog here.

I have been playing with Nesting Dies, the Curly Labels/Tags Nesting Dies to be precise, to make a little handbag inspired by one I made a few years ago when crafting with my friend Dianne. It is the first project in a little series using the nesting dies in various ways. Here is the finished bag:

Here are a few more photos of the finished bag:

That's it from me for today. The full step-by-step tutorial can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Have a lovely Valentine's Day!

hugs

Monika xxx

Here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop:

Curly Labels/Tags Nesting Dies, Flutter Zen #1 Layering Dies, Old Rose Prints

If you want to get an extra 20% off the shop prices, please use my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA at check out. I would really love you using it. Thanks so much!

May Mixed Media Challenge

Hello, Crafty Friends!

Welcome to May and the start of a new Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. As you know Anything Mixed Media Goes as long as it is not a card and you use at least one stencil.

My DT contribution for May is ... a set of Butterfly ATCs ....

... which I made as an entry for a swap over on Facebook (UK Stamper's Forum). This was one project where I had to just go with the flow. I stared off with a shaving foam background which I made some time ago using red, orange and green. I stenciled over it using Starlight paint through the Doily Squares stencil. You can't see the colour, but you can still pick up the texture underneath the red. I added some dotty Washi tape and Dry Wall Tape (plasterboard tape) before deciding that it all needed to be covered with a little gesso and red Liquitex ink.

Now this is where I tried out something new. I picked up the Daisy Play stencil and my oil pastels, used white for the daisies and yellow around the edges. I die-cut the solid Flutter Zen 1 butterfly, stamped with the sentiments from the Art Marks set and painted it with Cosmic Skin Dazzle Paint.

I stamped the butterfly from the Trendy Butterflies 2 set, coloured with Promarkers, layered as seen, added some shading and glossy accents. It is worth to note here that the glossy accents reacted with the red Promarker and changed the poppy red to what looks like burnt orange.

I then added rub-on borders and sentiments and finished off with sequins and copper Stickles.

I hope you feel inspired to dig into your crafty resourcefulness and create something to enjoy  .... why not link it up with the Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. The theme for the Mixed Media Challenge 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.

Ooops, almost forgot to mention the prizes: one winner as chosen by the Mixed Media DT will receive a $10 gift certificate and two Top Picks will receive a $5 gift certificate each, all of course redeemable at the STAMPlorations Shop ... but that's not all ... if there are 25 or more entries one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive two standard sized stencils of their choice.

That's it from me for today. I shall be back soon with another project to share.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount*** on their stamps, stencils and dies:

ARTplorations Stencils/Masks: Daisy Play, Doily Squares
Both are new stencils and should be listed in the shop shortly.

STAMPlorations Stamps: Trendy Butterflies 2, Art Marks,
 

CUTplorations Dies: Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies

*** The personal discount coupon STAMPGIRLMONIKA works on already reduced items too, but can not be combined with any other coupon codes.