Celebrating Little Stamps

Hello Crafty Friends!

Well, I am back with an Inspiration project for STAMPlorations.

Today the bouquet from the Newlyweds Extras came out to play ....

Sometimes we tend to forget about the little stamps in our stash, yet they can make a big impact, especially on a CAS card.

I saw the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch, where I shall be entering my card, and felt it was just right for showcasing one of my little stamps.

The bouquet was teamed up with the die-cut Birthday Wishes, coloured and finished off with gem and sequins.

Throughout August and September STAMPlorations are having 15% off on all stamps, stencils and dies in their on-line store on Tuesdays only, no coupon needed. This offer can be combined with my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA to give you an added 20% off taking the total discount to 35%, just saying ....


That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more card making/crafting inspiration from my teamies. 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:
Newlyweds Extras, Birthday Wishes Phrase Die, Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
  
*** Discount code works on sale items too

Birthday Shaker

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. This week my teamies and I are showcasing stamps by our very own Shirley under her label 'The Bee's Knees'.

I decided to work with the Newlyweds Extras and World Birthday Cakes to create a shaker card. Here it is ...

I wanted to showcase some of the smaller stamps this time and felt that using a frame die, like the one from my stash, was a good way to do this. If you haven't got one, you can always design your own and cut it with a craft knife. Instead of the pierced dots, you could use faux stitching.

I used the large rectangle only for my shaker otherwise it would have been too fuzzy for my liking.

TIP!: Cutting the frame twice helps with the positioning of the stamping as you can use the off cuts to stamp on and inlay them into your first frame before adding the second frame with dimension and acetate for the shaker.

As mentioned earlier, this week we are showcasing stamps designed by our very own Shirley under her label 'The Bee's Knees'. All her sets will be reduced by 15% until Monday 8th January.

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:
Newlyweds Extas, World Birthday Cakes

 

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Love And More Love

Hi All,

It's time for a little more inspiration over at STAMPlorations. Today I made two projects for you, nothing daring just good sturdy cards ...

The first one is a very girly shaker card ...

... the idea was to make the heart as big as possible. It is not one of my best cards, but there are a few good ideas here. I backed the heart with some paper from the Love and Lipstick collection (All About Scrapping, STAMPlorations' sister shop), which I think works quite well. I also like the way the little deer (Reindeer Games) stretches out its arms and legs ready for an embrace, I achieved this effect by only attaching the body and head with foam dots, this makes the arms and legs curve up naturally. The banner over the heart is a kind of cute too ... and that's when I became a little unstuck ... I am now wondering what it might look like having the little deer partially inside the heart .... guess I'll just have to make another card. :-D

Next up is an engagement card for Katie, which I shall give to her mum Dianne to pass on ...

I stamped the border in Pool Party using a stamp from the Grunge Floral Strips before silver embossing the ring from the Newlyweds Extras set and adding a diamond in the form of silver Perfect Pearls sprinkled with very sparkly glitter. To finish, I added a peel-off, silver twine and layered on my linen effect base card.

That's it from me for today, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration provided by my teamies. Whilst there, leave a comment (each month a randomly drawn commenter will win a $10 gift certificate) and have a good look around for current challenges, tutorials etc

Back soon. Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used in today's projects, links are in the above text
   

Artsy Brushos

Hi Everybody,

I am back again with some more inspiration for you ... and just in case you wondered what happened to the backgrounds I made in my video here once they had dried ... well look no further. I used one of them in today's card ...

I simply cut it down to size, stamped the ring from the Newlyweds Extras set in crushed curry, die cut a leafy flourish (Britannia Dies) from white card, stamped my sentiment from the Noteworthy set in elegant eggplant, embossed a butterfly from the Artful Flutters set in gumball green before fuzzy cutting and layering as shown. To finish I added a pearl to my butterfly and doodled a border using my elegant eggplant marker.

I am entering my card at:
Moo Mania - swirls, leafy flourish with a couple of swirls and doodled border giving a swirly feel will hopefully qualify
Time Out - Nature with optional twist animals
Inkspirational - Grunge

There is more inspiration over at the STAMPlorations Blog plus lots of opportunities to play along in challenges, leaving a comment to win, CASEing one of our cards in the Inspiration Playground and of course lots of tutorials too. Make sure you pop over and check it out.

That's it from me for today, a very quick post. I shall be back soon.
Have a lovely weekend!
hugs
Monika xxx

here are the stamp sets from STAMPlorations I used. Links can be found in the above text:
  
inks and embossing powder used - Stampin'Up!

CASEplorations April

Hi Everybody,
It's CASEplorations Time again. This is where we, the STAMPlorations Girls, pick one card each month to CASE. CASE originally means copy and share everything, but in our playground we understand it as take inspiration from ...

This month we are taking inspiration from a card Kimberly Wiener made for her post here, when she was our Guest Designer for the Stamps & Glitter challenge last July.

I love the bright orange combined with the blue. The splatter pattern also stood out to me as something that I liked.
I actually made my card last Friday in between seeing clients which meant I didn't want my fingers getting inky. This is why instead of splatters I used dots and circles to get the movement for my card. I stamped these using the ring from The Bee's Knees Newlyweds Extras set, the ring was used for the circles and simply turned over for stamping the bubble like dots.
I then took a die cut butterfly and added some pattern to it by embossing the Distressed Damask Background in light blue and highlighting it with a darker blue using the resist technique.
To add some more contrast I decided to layer my butterfly on a piece of orange card with a blue banner and white on black greeting from the Joyful stamp set.

To finish my card off I simply added some sequins ... and here it is:

As always there is a chance for you to play along at the CASEploration Playground, more details can be found here.
Before I go just a quick reminder that the new APRIL Release Stamps are available at a 10% discount until 10th April. If you are a member of our Stamp Club, you will get your 15% discount on top of that too.

Smiles all around. Mine arrived in the post today .... off playing ...

Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

stamps I used:
   

April Release stamps

Happy Thoughts

Hi Everybody,
Today I got three projects I want to share with you, all of which form part of the Inspiration Round Up Post over at the STAMPlorations Blog. As you've probably noticed for one reason or another I didn't have much time this month to craft. Yesterday was the first day I could really sit down and indulge myself ...
With Spring having officially started, I thought the SKETCHED: Tulips would be the perfect stamp to work with. As always I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do which was that I wanted my tulips to be yellow with a hint of orange ... off I went to colour some using Promarkers and watercolour pencils.
Here is my first card using the fuzzy cut Promarker coloured image ...

Initially I thought I'd add some splashes or dotty patterned paper to my background, but after trying out various options, I decided that I wanted to keep this card crisp and clean ... and the dotty paper morphed into a dotty embossed piece of white card and a strip of dotty ribbon. Once layered, I simply added a framed sentiment from the Blossom Overture stamp set, our current STAMP CLUB set, a punched butterfly and gems to finish.
My watercoloured Tulip image is next and I went all out grungy for a floral birthday card ...

The style of this one and my third card was inspired by the sprayed backgrounds I made a while ago when trying out my Artiste Spirtzing Inks (docrafts) on lining paper. Lining paper is great as it drys flat after being wet. With it being cream which mutes the colours somewhat, it is also ideal to create a grunge or vintage look for your card. This card simply developed as I went along. First I stamped the Chevrons and Arrows in apricot pigment ink (ColorBox), next I spritzed some brown and peach splashes, then I added the stitching (PATCHWORK FRENZY: Graphic Squares) to two of the corners and stamped the rings and circles using the ring stamp and its reverse from the Newlyweds Extras set (The Bees Knees by STAMPlorations). It is great for almost bubble like stamping. I layered it all up, added my white embossed sentiment (VIGNETTE: Chevron & Arrows) and finished off by adding a few green metal embellies.
Next up is another Grunge Card ...

I started off by stenciling the word HUGS from the ARTplorations Stencils: Hello & Company in red over my sprayed background. To add dimension I first drew the outline of the word in a darker red and added some partial white outline using my chalk marker. I then added some more stenciling using the ARTplorations Stencils: Hearts All Over around the outside allowing it to fade towards the center. I then added some splashes and rings from the Holiday Artsy set before rounding three corners, layering on my light cream base card, attaching my sentiment banner (VIGNETTE: Chevron & Arrows) and finishing off with a tiny punched heart. I did contemplate adding some bling, but decided against it given that the spritzing ink is already pearlescent and that it would make a good masculine birthday card as it stands.

Hope you enjoyed my little offering today.
Back soon with more inspiration ...
Have a lovely day!

Hugs
Monika xxx


What I used from STAMPlorations:
      

from Stampin'Up!
early espresso, bravo burgundy, riding hood red, pumpkin pie, rich razzleberry inks; chalk marker; early espresso and rich razzleberry card; owl builder (tiny heart) and small butterfly punches

ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons

gems and other card from stash

Wishing You Well

Hi Everybody,
thanks for all your lovely comments.
I am back again today with another easy project for you forming part of the Inspiration Post over at STAMPlorations.

I used the bouquet from the The Bee's Knees: Newlyweds Extras and a sentiment from the VIGNETTE: Tree Silhouettes. I simply die cut a circle from a piece of white card, spritzed it with turquoise and green inks, stamped the bouquet in Rose Red and the sentiment on a strip of card in Lost Lagoon, assembled as shown and finished off by rounding some corners and adding a tiny heart and some gems.

Next I got another card which I made as a Get Well Soon card for a friend. I was meant to pop it through the door yesterday on my way home from town .... and forgot ... hoping to do it tomorrow.

It is actually for her husband, he loves narrowboats. I am hoping that this will help cheer him up. I just simply stamped and coloured the narrowboat by Amanda Loverseed/Stamposaurus and combined it with a sentiment from the VIGNETTE: Trendy Feathers set by STAMPlorations. Given that the narrowboat is so detailed and I chose to colour it brightly, which is quite traditional, the card didn't really need any additional embellishments.

I would like to link this card to:
Bloggers/Splendiferous Creations - Travel Challenge
Stempelsonne - Anything Goes with stamp as main focus

Thanks for stopping by today.
Back again soon with more inspiration.
hugs
Monika xxx

here is something to look forward to:


stamps I used: