February Stencil Sunday

Hello, Crafty Friends!

Welcome to another Stencil Sunday in February. May I take the opportunity to remind you of the current 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 this Stencil Sunday is ... a tag

For today's project, I dug out one of those pieces I have been meaning to use for a while ... a piece of card I used to use up left over gold acrylic and red coloured paste from a couple of projects from which I cut a large tag.

The paste at the time was used with the Old Rose Prints ARTplorations Stencil. It was done in a hurry and had smudged a little, and I wondered what it might look like covered up with tissue paper. I picked up some white crumpled tissue paper duly kept from packaging, added some stamping using stamps from the Scribbly Splattery Grunge set and Tempting Turquoise, Crisp Cantaloupe and Basic Grey inks, layered it onto my tag and gave it a thin coat of white gesso.

Next I got out the Ethnic Organic Two stencil, placed it on my tag, sprinkled with A Bit Jaded and Are You Cerise Coloured Stains Infusions, spritzed with water and outlined the pattern in black once dry.

Next I blended with Emerald and Golden Copper Decorating Chalks to bring out more of the rose pattern, added some glittery nail varnish and a piece of dry wall tape as a base for the rose and die-cut sentiment.

All that was left, was to finish off with some glitter glue, fibers and sequins.

The stamping on the tissue paper can't be seen in the finished project as stamping, it has become part of the overall colouring and texture. Interestingly it seemed to disappear and blend fully into the background through adding the dry wall tape despite it being a mesh.

Here is a last look at my finished project.,,

I hope you feel inspired to create something different, maybe even do some up-cycling or re-purposing .... why not link it up with the Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. The theme 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.

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: Old Rose Prints, Ethnic Organic Two

 

STAMPlorations Stamps: 

Blossom Overture, Scribbly Splattery Grunge

 
CUTplorations Dies:
Luggage Tags Nesting Dies, Hugs Word Die
 

Watercolour Rose

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. This week my treamies and I are showcasing stamps by STAMPlorations owner Shery under her label 'Shery Russ Designs'.

I decided to work with the Framed Solitary Rose in combination with stamps from the Mixed Media Grunge  and Sentiment Builder Happy plus the Hugs CUTplorations Word Die for an almost one-layer card. Here it is ...

I am still loving my Mixed Media card. I really like the smooth surface as compared to the textured one of watercolour card. Expect to see more of it. 😁

Todays card was again pretty straight forward:

• fold a piece of A5 Mixed Media card in half
• stamp the framed rose in black Archival
• watercolour using inks (Calypso Coral, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Mossy Meadow, Tempting Turquoise) or watercolours
• stamp and die cut sentiment, add
• add stamped border detail
• finish off with sequins

New for this year, the STAMPlorations Inspiration DT are showcasing stamps from one designer. All the stamps by that designer will be reduced by 10% for that one week apart from one set which will have a 20% discount. No coupon is needed at check out, and you still can apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA -which doesn't expire, by the way- for an extra 20% off all stamps, dies and stencils!

As mentioned earlier, this week we are showcasing stamps designed by STAMPlorations owner Shery under her label 'Shery Russ Designs'. All her sets will be reduced by 10% and the Oh So Grateful Stamps And Coordinating Die set will be 20% off.

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:
Framed Solitary Rose, Mixed Media Grunge, Sentiment Builder Happy, Hugs CUTplorations Word Die
   

September CASEplorations

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's time to start off the September CASEplorations Challenge over at STAMPlorations. This month we are taking inspiration from one of the CAS Stamp Girls as we invite you to CASE this stunning card by Ksenija Risova from Sweet Kobylkin.

Ksenija posted about her card on her blog here, if you want to check it out. Have a look, what can you see?

• cups/mugs
• coffee, tea or any other type of hot drink
• CAS
• red, orange, yellow with a touch of blue
• kraft card base
• white splatters
• fish tail banner
• catchy sentiment

Here is what I made of it ...

• mug
• stayed with the hot drink theme
• red, orange and yellow in my focal image with a blue faded outline for dimension
• splatters in my brown Brusho background
• the fish tail banner became a die cut tag
• created my own catchy sentiment

here are the steps:

1. create brusho background by sprinkling some brown brusho powder on your craft mat, spritz with water and mop up using a piece of watercolour card
2. die cut the small tag from the CUTplorations Luggage Tags Nesting Dies
3. stamp the mug and hearts from the Sketchy Coffee Cups set in black Memento ink and colour them with alcohol markers
4. die cut the Hugs CUTplorations Word Die from black card
5. create a 'in a mug' sentiment and edge with black
6. attach your tag using a heart shaped brad to the brusho base and layer on a red base card TIP!: Use a matching alcohol marker to colour your brad, if needed
7. attach the sentiment and finish off with with a couple of white sequins

Here is another look at my finished card ...

Hope you feel inspired to put your own spin on Ksenija's card and join us at CASEplorations. You can link your finished project up here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

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

Have a lovely day!

hugs

Monika xxx

here is what I used:

STAMPlorations Stamps: Sketchy Coffee Cups

CUTplorations Dies: Luggage Tags Nesting Dies, Hugs Word Die

 

Color Blooms Blog Hop

Hello Crafty Friends, welcome to the Color Blooms Blog Hop & Linky Party over at STAMPlorations.

My teamies and I are having an in depth look at what you can do and make using pages from Shery's Color Blooms colouring book.

I coloured about four of them before I finally decided to cut into one. Before doing so I had to throw out any rule books and go with an 'I wonder if ...' moment to try something a little off beat.

Here is the finished page:

Looks messy .... it wasn't nearly as messy to create ... I simply removed the page from the Color Blooms book and placed it on a layer of kitchen roll. As my page was going to get very wet, I felt it was a good way of drawing excess water out of the paper. I then sprinkled various coloured Brusho powders in different places, approximately where I wanted them to be of course, sprayed with water and left to dry on a fresh layer of kitchen roll. Once dry, I added some subtle shading using Cool Grey 1, Pastel Beige and Pastel Blue Promarkers. Here is the page after I cut off the messy edges:

Looks a lot neater, which helped me decide on what I wanted to do. I simply cut along the black lines rather than tearing, which was my initial thought, layered on white base cards, added a stamped border using the circle line from the Art Marks set and added some die cut sentiments, Hello and Hugs CUTplorations Word Dies ... quick and easy, here they are:

It's over to you now ....

• Leave a comment on my blog, pop over to the Stamplorations Blog for the links of all the participating blogs, have a look at what my teamies created and leave comments as you go along.
• The linky for the Linky Party will be on the STAMPlorations Blog. To participate, download the Color Blooms Sampler from there, colour it using whatever medium you chose, create a project using your coloured sampler and link up here.
• On Facebook, like the STAMPlorations Page and comment on the Color Blooms Blog Hop post tagging a friend.
• Commenting closes Tuesday, 6th September at 11.55 Pacific Time, so will the linky for the Linky Party.

As always there are prizes to be won, a list of which can be found here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

I shall leave you with one last look at my projects, all made using parts of one coloured page ....

This was meant to be all ... that's until I decided that the off cuts had to be used too ... which meant another four cards using the same page ...

... in combination with the sunflower stamp from The Birds And The Blooms set for the sunflower cards. I simply masked off a matching strip, stamped the sunflower in black masking as I went along, tore a little piece off each off cut and attached them in place. All I had left to do was add my die cut sentiment, Hugs CUTplorations Word Die, and two more cards were finished.

For my last two cards, I layered my cut offs on a piece of black card, die cut 2 black and 1 green Hello CUTplorations Word Die, shadow layered the green on one of the blacks, layered my cards as seen, added sparkle to my sentiments using my glittery gel pen and finished off with matching glitter enamel dots.

I am entering my first card at:
Darnell's NBUS Challenge #7 - anything goes as long as there is at least one item that is 'Never-Before-Used-Schtuff', my Hello die had it's first outing when I made it


One last thing before I go .... my sincere apologies, I had to uninstall the members gadget. It was buggy from the start and now has stopped working altogether. I truly appreciate you popping by. Thanks so much for your continued support.

That's it from me. I shall be back soon.
Have a lovely day!
Happy Hopping and Good Luck!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Color Blooms, Art Marks, CUTplorations Word Dies: Hello and Hugs
  
The Birds And The Blooms

Color Blooms Hugs

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration time over at STAMPlorations. I thought I'd do something a little different for my DT piece today ... a card without stamping! Now there was a challenge for me ....

For now I shall leave this as a little teaser given that I used a new product which Shery is going to introduce either later today or tomorrow.

All I can say for now is that I added some black spritzing, doodling, die-cut Hugs (CUTplorations Word Die: Hugs) and sequins.

If you want to find out how the rest was made and get a glimpse of other projects I made using the same mystery product, check back at 8pm BST (12 noon PDT) once the post here goes live.

For more card inspiration, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog. This is also where you can leave a comment for your entry to win a $10 gift certificate.

That's it from me for now. Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
CUTplorations Word Die: Hugs, Mystery Product

CUTplorations Die Release Hop Day 3

... and overall Blog Hop DAY 7 ...

Hi All! It's PARTY TIME!!!!! STAMPlorations is turning 3 and they are celebrating BIG! It's Blog Hop Time!

..... and Shery is releasing a new product too ... CUTplorations thin metal dies ... this is day 3 of their release ...

First up is my DT contribution to DAY 7 of the blog hop. Today I was working with two of the CUTplorations word dies, hugs and smile ....

... in combination with CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, ARTplorations Stencils: Leaf Prints and Kathryn's Big Wishes stamp set.

The first card is super easy to make ... cut a Crazy Double Running Stitch rectangle, spritz with ink, cut out the word hugs, layer on a contrasting base card, attach a leaf using decoupage gel glue (it helps to keep the shape) and finish off with a couple of clear gems. You can see how I made the leaf in my short Easy Leaves video here.

For my second card, I stamped, masked and coloured to build up my image and stamped sentiment before cutting the word smile into it keeping all the elements even the little fill in bits one normally would discard as they were due to become part of my sentiment base layer. I also cut the word smile twice more from white card to build up my sentiment for a 3D effect. Have a close look ...

Now back to the blog hop ... as with every blog hop there will be prizes for commenting on participating blogs. You can find all the links for DAY 7 here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

The prizes for commenting are:

Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and STAMPlorations designers blogs:

• THREE (3) winners of $25 gift certificate
• SEVEN (7) winners (1 per day) of $10 gift certificate

All prizes will be randomly drawn using Random.org

.... hold on, that's not all ... there is also a Linky Party you can join to help us celebrate

How does this work:

• there is a mood board below for you to draw inspiraiton from
• create your project (No back linking, projects must be new, but you can use any brand of product. We would be tickled pink if you were to use STAMPlorations products, but it is not necessary.)
• display the mood board in your post
• link to any of the 7 blog hop posts
• the linky will be open until 5th July, it will close lateron  today

Here is the mood board, remember it needs to be displayed in your blog post to qualify ...

Here are the Linky Party prizes:

• one winner of Kathryn's Big Wishes
• one winner of three CUTplorations word dies, winner's choice

All winners will be drawn by Random.org.

This is me finished, one last look at my cards ....

 

I shall be back soon. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

link to DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3, DAY 4, DAY 5, DAY 6, DAY 7 of the Blog Hop

here is what I used:
CUTplorations thin metal dies Words: hugs and smile, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
  
ARTplorations Stencils: Leaf Prints, Kathryn's Big Wishes