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

Playing With Water & Colour

Hello Crafty Friends!

Hope you're enjoying the Stencil Hop Over at STAMPlorations. I am also up there with a little tutorial. Here is a sneak peak of my card ...

Want to check out how to make one like it, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog.
Have a lovely evening!
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:

Life In Full Color, CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies
 

STAMPlorations December Stencil Blog Hop Day 1

Hello Crafty Friends!

Over at STAMPlorations they are having an early Christmas Party in the form of an ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop & Linky Party. For my DT project I did some simple heat embossing working with their Holly Background stencil and their Merry Christmas CUTplorations Phrase Die. Here it is ...

I attached the stencil to a piece of dark blue card, sponged with Versamark, removed the stencil and sprinkled with Snowflake Heat It Up! embossing powder and WOW Apple Red Embossing Enamel before heat setting. To finish I simply layered on a white base card and attached my Merry Christmas, die-cut from holographic card.

For more stencil inspiration, prize info and to link up with the Linky Party, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog.

I shall be back soon. Have fun!
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:

Holly Background ARTplorations Stencil, Merry Christmas CUTplorations Phrase Die
 

Have Yourself

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. I thought I'd share a Christmas card made with non-Christmas stamps, apart from the sentiment that is, as a way of keeping up my own yearly challenge.
Here it is ....

I used stamps from the Frames And Flowers and Party Mates sets to stamp my tree before adding a sentiment from the Christmas Reindeer set to finish.
So how did I stamp the tree ... I started off with almost fully inking the reverse side of one of the cupcakes (Party Mates) to stamp the pot. I then used generational stamping to stamp the leaves (Frames And Flowers) in a tree shape. Next I used the circular swirl (Party Mates) first on the reverse and the the actual swirl to stamp the baubles, I then added the small flowers, hearts and dots (all from the Frames And Flowers set) before adding some Stickles and Perfect Pearls dots as garland. All the stamping was done using pigment ink.

Here is another look at the finished card ...

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration and to leave a comment for your entry in their prize draw.
I shall be back soon with more makes to share.

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:

Frames And Flowers, Party Mates, Christmas Reindeer
  

B&W Christmas

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations, and for my DT project I made a quick and easy card, perfect for a last minute make in the run-up to Christmas. Here it is ...

It is a one-layer card with a tiny pop of colour. I stamped the sentiment block from the Holiday Sketches: Christmas Block set in black Archival and simply added the snowflakes from the Christmas Reindeer set before finishing off with a few sparkly gems and a tiny red star. This combination would work well on a tag too.

I keep its short and sweet today, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to see the fabulous projects my teamies created and to leave a comment for your entry into their prize draw.

Thanks for stopping by during this busy time.

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:

STAMPlorations Stamps: Vignette: Christmas Block, Christmas Reindeer
 

CUTplorations December

Hello Crafty Friends!

Over at STAMPlorations they have a new challenge ... The CUTplorations Challenge ... It's a monthly challenge requiring you to use die(s) and take inspiration from the monthly changing photo which for this month is ...

So what have we got ...

• Happy Christmas
• colours - red, blue, white
• snow
• white bear
• scarf/knitwear
• striped background

I went with colours mainly red and white, the bear became a large snowman with a softly blue watercolour background ...

I was mainly inspired by how the red seems to pop in the inspiration photo hence the bright red sentiment, one of the CUTplorations Phrase Dies 'Warm Winter Wishes'. The rest is straight forward stamping and watercolouring with a touch of glitter. Here is another look ...

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to see how my teamies interpreted the photo and to link up your entry too. A little birdie told me that you could win some of the word/phrase dies we used in our projects in their random draw.

That's it from me for now.
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:

CUTplorations Dies: Warm Winter Wishes Phrase Die

STAMPlorations Stamps: Large Snowman from the Stamp Lab

December Mixed Media Challenge

Hello, Crafty Friends!

Welcome to this first Sunday in November 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 December is ... a wooden plaque made from a piece of plywood ....

What would I need a wooden plague for, you might ask, especially a monochromatic one. Well ... I needed it for a very delicate place ... not so much in keeping with Feng shui more of a sort of letting go with ease .... 😁

We had some problems in the toilet department, the flush was difficult to work. It had been replaced before without much lasting improvement, a more radical change was needed. Not that easy to do with a built in cistern ... the old buttons took up quite a lot of space, and the one we wanted to go for was tiny in comparison, a replacement frontage was also very difficult to come by .... and then ... out comes the crafty resourcefulness ...

Nick fitted the new flush mechanism - working perfectly now -, cut a new hole for the smaller button,  and I got to do some artwork to cover the one where the old large buttons had been. I took quite a few photos which I turned into a little video tutorial on how I made it ...

Here is another 'still' of my finished project ...

I am entering my plaque at:

Alterred Eclectics - December Challenge

613 Avenue Create - Challenge #192 Anything Goes with optional twist Holiday Happiness

Creative Artiste - Challenge #21 Anything Goes

Anything But Cute - Challenge #19 Rustic Glam 

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.

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: Dots All Over, Flower Burst Large
 

STAMPlorations Stamps used: Mixed Media Elements, Mixed Media Grunge