What If You Fly ...

Hi All,

as promised one my scheduled posts keeping you inspired whilst I am packing up the house in readiness for next weeks move. So here we are with my DT contribution to this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post.

I thought that this sentiment from the Strong Women set was a good match for the sunrise from the New Beginning set .... what do you think?

I stamped the sunrise in black Archival and coloured it with sweeping brush strokes and Tinkling H2Os before stamping the birds and black embossing my sentiment. To finish, I simply layered my panel on kraft card. Here is another look ...

For more inspiration pop over to the STAMPloration Blog, and whilst there leave a comment for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate. Also have a look around and check out their challenges and tutorials.

I shall be back soon with another scheduled post. Have a lovely week!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Strong Women, New Beginning
 

Every New Day

Hi All,

I am back with a little more inspiration for you. Finally, I got 'round to watching part 1 of an online Craftsy class called Watercolor Cards Made Simple ... and guess who the teacher is ... yep, it's Deepti Malik. Deepti is simply brilliant, I learnt so much in the one lesson.

I was so inspired that I got out my somewhat chalky, cheap and cheerful watercolours and started practicing on some small off-cut pieces of watercolour paper. I was practicing different ways of drawing lines which you will see more of over the next few weeks. I really enjoyed this playful way of getting used to creating different effects with just one type of brush.

The piece I chose for today's project was one where I tried drawing lines combined with adding some splatters. It looked rather like something was bubbling up from below ... rising to the surface ...
I felt that I really wanted to use this piece but had no idea where it was leading me. I felt drawn to using the round landscape from STAMPlorations New Beginning set ... and somehow I ended up with Spring colours, clear lines and a sprinkle of glitter from my trusted gel pen ....

Well it was much later, like the next day whilst browsing Facebook, when it all stared to fall into place ... I came across this article shared by a friend explaining the energies around this week's solar eclipse which will be visible in parts of Asia and Australia. All I could think was WOW ... a few days ago, almost out of nowhere, we had an offer on our house ... bringing us a step closer to fulfilling our dream of spending some serious time travelling the canals of England and Wales. Maybe this glittery landscape is the new life slowly rising into reality ... hmm, quite like that thought. Spring is always a good time for new beginnings ...

For more inspiration from my Teamies, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog where you can leave a comment for an entry in their monthly prize draw, details can be found here.

That's it from me for today, I shall be back again tomorrow with something humorous and fun!

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
New Beginning

Every Morning

Hi All,

January is coming to an end, and over at STAMPlorations they are rounding up the month with a last batch of inspiration ... of course there'll be more to come in February ...

What better way to give the New Beginning set another outing with this simple CAS design ...

I sponged my background on a pierced rectangle die-cut, stamped the sunrise image and added some subtle detail using my trusted Clear Star Sakura Gelly Roll pen. You can see it better in the photo graph below. To finish, I embossed my sentiment in Early Espresso and layered on a linen effect base card.

Pop over to the STAMPloration Blog for more amazing pieces of card-art, leaving a comment and having a good nose around.

That's it from me for today, back again tomorrow for the CASEplorations Challenge.

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is the set I used in today's card, link is in the above text

STAMPlorations Blog Hop

Hi All!

Welcome to Day 5 of the STAMPlorations January Stamp Release Blog Hop. Today My Teamies and I are showcasing all of the sets with each of us having made 4 cards, one for each set.

Let's start with Becca's Big Grins Reindeer Games. Reindeer are not just for Christmas, right?! Rudolph has to have some fun the rest of the year too ...

I've gone for a folksy look for this belated birthday card and added some flowers from the Folk Flowers set using the reverse side of the flower head stamps to add some colour. The rest is straight forward stamping with a white embossed sentiment plus Promarker colouring and some doodles for the border. I rather like this unconventional colour scheme, it would make a great card for the man in your life. The mischievous part of me feels like adding 'or so you thought...:-D' on the inside.

I am entering my Reindeer card at:

613 Avenue Create - Birthday ... Happy 3rd Birthday to all of the team at 613 Avenue

Time Out Challenges - Birthday with optional twist of sponging

Cardz 4 Guyz - Happy Birthday ... Happy 2nd Birthday to all of the team at Cardz4Guyz 

Next up is Deepti's Dee's Artsy Impressions New Beginning ...

I blended Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo for my background and added some random stamping in Basic Grey using two of the sentiments from Dee's set. Once dry I randomly dabbed Champagne and Frost White All Purpose Ink (Tsukineko) all over hence the shine and sparkle shimmer. Next I stamped the sunrise image on a piece of acetate using Archival ink and coloured it on the reverse using Peel-Off Markers. I then edged my pieces using my gold Tinge Alcohol Marker and attached my acetate image to my background with a couple of star eyelets before layering on my base card and finishing off with a sentiment strip (Vignette Tree Silhouettes) and some sequins.

I am entering my card at:

Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes

Mixed Media Card Challenge - Beginnings with Sequins, it's in the background (with the new day comes new strength and new thoughts; even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise) plus wishing you well could be for your new adventure, new job etc

Next up is Shirley's The Bee's Knees Winged Things ...

I chose to work with the butterflies of the set and arranged them in an arc before stamping them using Jet Black Archival ink on my already sponged background (Soft Sky and Lost Lagoon). I then coloured them using silver metallic acrylic ink from the pound shop which gives a translucent finish and adds a lovely shimmer to the wings. I finished off with a sentiment from the New Beginning set.

I am entering my butterfly card at:

The Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - Something New, 5 out of the 6 stamps were never used before plus it's my first time of colouring an image with acrylics on a card.

Next up is a card inspired by this week's theme over at Less is More using Shery's Shery Russ Designs Big Greetings ...

... which I simply combined with a flourish from the Distressed Floral Swirls set to create my one-layer card stamped in black Crushed Curry and a hint of Melon Mambo on linen effect card and finished off with a couple of clear gems.

I am entering my one-layer card at:

Less is More - One Layer Card featuring a flourish or two as in my case.

As with every Blog Hop leaving a comment will give you a chance to win one of the fab prizes below. Commenting closes on January 19. Winners will be announced on January 21.
Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here.

Prizes:

ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMPolrations blog and designers' blogs (January 15/Day 5 post) wins a $25 gift certificate to the shop
TWO (2) commenters randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and designers' blogs each win a $15 gift certificate to the shop
FOUR (4) commenters randomly drawn from Designer & Stamp Spotlight posts (Days 1 to 4) win the stamp set featured for that day

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for all the links you need to participate.

I shall be back again tomorrow with another project. Until then ...

have a lovely day!

hugs

Monika xxx

What I used in today's projects, links are in the above text

      

A New Day

Hi All,

Can you believe it, we're almost one week into 2016 already!

For today's inspiration post over at STAMPlorations, I'm sharing a card which was inspired by this month's CASEplorations project featuring a card by Laura Bassen. You can find all the details about January CASEplorations here.

Right, back to my card ... this is where I want to take the opportunity to give you a sneak preview of two of the stamp sets due for release next week with our usual Blog Hop, Winged Things and New Beginning ...

I used Basic Grey and shaded my sponging through the Old Rose Prints ARTplorations Stencil to be darker at the bottom going lighter towards the top edge. Next I stamped my sentiment from the New Beginning set in black, stamped, coloured and fuzzy cut my butterfly from the Winged Things set, added a die cut heart and layered it all up before finishing off with a few silver hearts.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to find the amazing projects my teamies created, and, if you leave a comment there, you'll be entered in a monthly random prize draw too (Prize: $10 Gift Certificate)

Before I go, a quick reminder ... Blog Hop next week ...

... and a couple of more cards ... just for fun ...

entering at:
Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes - with HLS stamps
Happy Little Stampers CASE - Kylie's card to CASE 

... and another one for a challenge ...

entering at:
Less is More - neutrals

That's it from me for today, back soon.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

Here is what I used from STAMPlorations, links to the sets are in the above text.

  

everything else I used:
Scribbles and Splat Tim Holtz dies - Sizzix
Butterfly Birthday stamp set - Happy Little Stampers