Oldies Are Goldies 2

Hi Crafty Friends!

Today's card uses the same critter I used on yesterday's.

Today's sentiment is from a retired set by STAMPlorations and the square die is by Die-namics.

Wishing you all a lovely day!

hugs
Monika 💕

Dad's Christmas

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. This week my teamies and I are showcasing stamps by Becca under her label 'Big Grins By Becca Cruger'.

I decided to work with the Sweet & Sassy Dad to treat you to another Christmas card using a non-Christmas stamp ...

I did have a little sentiment help from the retired Holiday Artsy set. Otherwise it's simple stamping with the red paper ribbon providing a pop of colour. The added die-cut pine twig which I had lying around gives it a little Christmas flair.

As mentioned earlier, this week we are showcasing stamps designed by Becca under her label 'Big Grins By Becca Cruger'. All her sets will be on sale at 10% off for the week until Monday 19th November, no coupon needed, the discount is automatically applied.

Talking about offers ... Shery has a big Thanksgiving Sale over at the STAMPlorations Store. Most items are reduced by 40% There are a few exceptions, and you can find all the details and the coupon code needed here in their shop.
Should you wish to purchase items from the New Release and 6x7 Stamp Club categories, which are not included in the sale, you can still use my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA for a 20% discount and a free thin metal die at check out.

Of course Shery will still draw a winner at random from all the comments left on this month's Inspiration Posts over on the STAMPlorations Blog. Pop over to see what my teamies created and to leave a comment for your entry into their prize draw.

That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!
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:
Sweet & Sassy Dad, Holiday Artsy (retired)

*** Discount code works on sale items too

STAMPlorations Christmas Release Day 5

Hello Crafty Friends!

STAMPlorations are doing a Christmas in August Release. They are releaasing 6 stamp sets and 8 CUTplorations dies and, of course, are celebrating in style with a Blog Hop. Welcome to Day 5!

Today my teamies and I are showcasing the 8 new CUTplorations Dies of which I personaaly am showcasing 4. First up is a little lantern using the Christmas Icons - Christmas Angel die. Here it is:

I used my handmade box template from my Spotlight Post here and tuned it into a lantern by die-cutting the angel and backing the negative with vellum after embossing the panels with the Oh, My Stars! ARTplorations Stencil. To finish I added a touch of gilding wax and Stickles.

Next up is a card using the beautiful Merry Christmas Word Art Die ...

I clear embossed the poinsettia from the Christmas Flower set, cut the sentiment twice from white card, layered as seen and finished off with a couple of clear gems.

Next up is a shaker card using the Christmas Bauble #2 Layering Die ...

I first cut the doodled bauble and then the solid one,attached acetate to the back and pieced them in. I used glass glitter to add to my shaker element and finished off with a die-cut Merry Christmas and a little matching bow.

Next up are three cards using the super gorgeous Christmas Icons - Christmas Tree #2 die ...

I simply assembled all the cut out bits on a sponged background, added a sentiment from the Holiday Artsy set, a doodled line and gems to finish.

This card was made by simply cutting the tree into the base card finishing offwith gems and peel-off sentiment.

My last card turns the tree into a shaker card using silver glass glitter and a peel-off sentiment.

That's all my projects for today.

Here is a pre-view of all the CUTplorations Dies from this release:
:

Christmas Icons - Christmas Angel, Christmas Tree #2, Nativity

  

Christmas Tree #1

Word Art Dies - Merry Christmas

Plate Dies - Holiday Words

Layering Dies - Christmas Baubles #2, Christmas Baubles #1

 

And here is a little reminder of everything from this week's release, links to previous days can be found towards the end of my post:

As with any blog hop, it is best to comment on all the participating blogs, Facebook and Instagram, links to which can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Commenting closes on Monday 21st August at 11.55 pm Pacific (that's British Summer Time 7.55am Tuesday 22nd August) with winners being announced on August 24.

Here is what you can win:

Winners randomly drawn from all the comments left on the STAMPlorations Blog and participating designers blogs:

- THREE (3) winners of a $10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store

- ONE (1) winner of her choice of 1 stamp set and 1 CUTplorations die from the new release

- ONE (1) winner of a $25 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store

Extra prizes:

- TWO (2) winners of their choice of 1 CUTplorations die from the new release -- drawn from STAMPlorations Facebook page (for commenting, sharing, and tagging a friend)

- ONE (1) winner of her choice of 1 stamp set from the new release -- drawn from STAMPlorations Instagram post (commenting, liking, tagging a friend)

Well. it's over to you now, you can find all the info and links here on the STAMPlorations Blog.
Enjoy your day and happy hopping!

hugs
Monika xxx

links to previous days: Day1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4

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:

Christmas Icons - Christmas Angel, Merry Christmas Word Art Die, Christmas Bauble #2 Layering Die
  

Christmas Icons - Christmas Tree #2, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
 

Holiday Sketches: Christmas Flower, Holiday Artsy, Oh, My Stars! ARTplorations Stencil
  

*** Discount code works on sale items too

ARTplorations December Stencil Hop Day 3

The Stencil Party is in full swing over at STAMPlorations. I am back today with a couple of grungy, painted outside the lines cards using the ARTplorations Christmas Trees Stencil in combination with the ARTplorations Dots All Over Stencil and a sentiment from the Holiday Artsy stamp set.

I my recent Spotlight Post on the STAMPlorations Blog, I mentioned that I was trying to use stencils with watercolour and ended up just adding more water and colour to get the background ... well these two makes today were ones that didn't end up getting the full make-over, instead I turned messy into an art form.

These were the ones where I lightly wetted the card through the stencil before removing it and adding more water to the damp areas before ading the watercolour. Not a precise science as you can see. Anyway I tried it on plain uncoated card, on the right, and watercolour card, on the left.

Once dry, I decided to place the Christmas Trees stencil on again and outline the shapes using a gold gel pen. I then die-cut the panels using the medium CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies before generously adding splatters.

I dry embossed both base cards using the Dots All Over stencil and the recommended sandwich for my Grand Calibur. I stamped my sentiment on matching strips of card and edged all my pieces messily with my gold leaf pen.

I shaped my sentiments, layered everything up and finished off with a few sequins. Sometimes going messy helps to get something out of my system, and I am then more able to focus on what I originally had in mind.

Feel free to try it for yourself, next time when Crafter's Block is trying to catch you out. 😄

Back to the Stencil Hop over at STAMPlorations. Shery is not only throwing a Blog hop ... she is also throwing a LINKY Party! All the details including prize info and special offers can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog. There is also oodles of inspiration available to get your creative juices flowing.

That's it from me for today. I shall be back again soon.

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: Dots All Over and Christmas Trees
 

STAMPlorations Stamps: Holiday Artsy


CUTplorations Dies: Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

Stenciled CAS

Hi Everyone,

sorry this post published 1 hour too early, when I hadn't prepared it. Apologies if you stopped by to check it out and only saw the card on its own.

I was playing with stencils when creating projects for the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop which is still in full swing, you can find the details here.

One of the cards I created was this one ...

As you well know when using stencils, even with the so called background ones, you can pick out small elements to make pretty CAS cards. This is what I did with my card. I used just one bit of the Holly Backgrounds stencil sponged with Starlights Metallic Paints on a pierced rectangle die cut to which I added a sepia stamped sentiment from the Holiday Artsy set.

The paints I used have such a beautiful sparkle that I felt it didn't need any further embellishing. I made another card using the same stencil, this time in its entirety, and combined it with a die cut sentiment. You can see the finished card in my post here.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration. There is plenty of eye candy for you to get your creative mojo going. We invite you to CASE (take inspiration from) any of our projects. If you do so, please link them up in the Playground. It is always such fun to see how you were inspired by one of our makes. Anyone who does link up will have a chance to win a fab prize.

That's it from me for now, back again in an hour's time with my latest offering for the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop.

Until Then ...

hugs
Monika xxx

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

Party Time

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed that there is a real party atmosphere over at STAMPlorations as we are celebrating their 2nd birthday. I also have quite a few friends who's birthday falls into early July hence i have a couple more birthday cards for you.
First up one for my friend Jo who is celebrating big this year ....

I worked with the ARTplorations Retro Circles stencil for my background which is simply sponged using Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo inks. I then used the ARTplorations Bloom Silhouettes stencil sponged in black and the splashes from the Holiday Artsy set to set the scene for a party atmosphere. The white embossed sentiment from the Party Time set and some sequins finish the look. As you can see it's hot of the press, the glue hasn't even had time to dry ....

Next up is a card I made for our friend John, which I wanted to have a summery feel ...

I used a piece of pre-embossed core-dinations card, think it's called core impressions, for my base, the die cut shapes were a little 'left overs' from a Sizzix die. I used the ARTplorations Honeycomb Delight stencil to sponge a matching background on my die-cut panel, stamped my sentiment from Party Time and coloured it using alcohol markers. I then highlighted a few of the embossed shapes with a marker, layered everything as seen and finished with a few square gems.

For more fun and inspiration pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. If you feel like CASEing one of the DT's cards made during June, we would love to see your creations. The linky will be open until 5th July.

That's it from me for now, I shall be back again in an hour with my contribution to the Blog Hop Birthday Celebrations.

Enjoy!!

Hugs
Monika xxx

stamps and stencils I used, link are in the text above
    

melon mambo, crushed curry, early espresso inks, early espresso Stamp'n'write marker, crushed curry card - from Stampin'Up!
pricked rectangle die - die-namics