STAMPlorations August Blog Hop Day 1

Hi Everyone!

It's Blog Hop Time again over at STAMPlorations! Welcome to Day 1, where we're shining the spotlight on World Birthday Cakes, a set designed by Shirley aka The Bee's Knees.

Here is the set ...

...and here is what I made of it ...

I did some simple masking and sponging to create my strip of yellow (daffodil delight and crushed curry). I then used a couple of the smaller stamps from the Balloons and Banners set by Deepti aka Dee's Artsy Impressions to add a little more interest to my beam of light before stamping the Tour Eiffel plus sentiment and finishing off by adding a touch of orange to the candle using my honeycomb Promarker.

I would like to enter my card at:

One Layer Simplicity - masked strip

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - Masking

Back to the Hop ... every comment you leave will count and increase your chances of winning one of the great prizes on offer. Commenting closes on Sunday 23rd August and the winners will be announced on Monday 24th August on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Prizes:

FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate

Plus ...

   

You can find all the links to the projects my Teamies created here on the STAMPlorations Blog.

That's it from me for today. I shall be back again tomorrow with more inspiration. Until then , have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

what else I used:


daffodil delight and crushed curry inks by Stampin'Up!

Kind Of Wonderful

Hello Everyone!

It is time again for more inspiration hence I had a little play with my wax crayons again. Here is the result:

I started off by stamping the large butterfly from the Blossom Like A Butterfly set and lightly coloured it using my crayons. I then used my white crayon to add a little swirly bit below before sponging marina mist ink all over and melon mambo in two opposite corners. I then added some highlights using a white and glittery gel pen, stamped the swirls from the Balloons and Banners set in marina mist, added my sentiment form the Fond Expressions 2 set, doodled a border, layered on my black base card and finished off by adding some sequins.

For more ideas and inspiration, pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog where my teamies have been busy creating and sharing too. As always, we'd be pleased if you feel inspired to CASE one or more of our cards.Why not link them up for your chance to win a prize, the linky can be found at the end of the post here.

Before I go a little reminder that we'll be having a blog hop next week to celebrate the release of our July stamps. Hope you can join us.

See you soon and have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx




here is what I used:
stamps by STAMPlorations, links are in the above text
  
Marina Mist and Melon Mambo inks by Stampin'Up!

A Love Letter

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to share my attempt at using distress inks for watercolouring with you. My layout was inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the theme at One Layer Simplicity which is strip down turned into strip across by me.

Here is the result:

Of course I would like to enter my card at the above challenges too plus I am entering at:
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your Mark
Allsorts - Inspired by Summer
Inkspirational Challenges - Photo Inspiration

That's it from me. Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

sketch from CAS(E) this sketch I was inspired by


photo from Inkspirational Challenges:


stamp set used: Love Letter in the Sand by STAMPlorations


inks used for blending: Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake by Stampin'Up!
inks used for watercolouring: Tea dye and Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Inks
inks used for stamping: Sepia Archival ink by Ranger and Tuxedo Black Memento ink by Tsukineko

You Are Perfect

Hello Everybody. Finally I am starting to get back into the swing of crafting again after a week away and a busy week at work. As part of the Spotlight Feature over on the STAMPlorations Blog, I am back today with some more framed floral beauties which are made using simple masking techniques utilizing both the positive and negative mask of a stamped frame. Again I was working with the Floral Bliss set, STAMPlorations' current Stamp Club set, this time around I added a sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 set. First up is the card I made in the video.

Masking is one of my favourite techniques, I just love the depth and layering effect one can achieve in a single layer.

To make this card I first stamped the helenium in the center and masked it off before stamping the frame and removing the mask from the flower.Next I coloured my flower using Promarkers, created a mask for the frame, positive, and kept the off-cut, negative, too. I used this negative to mask around my frame and sponged a little Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Wild Wasabi (pink, blue and green) inside my frame. I then removed the mask from around the frame and used the positive mask to mask off the frame before stamping the helenium either side in black. To finish I removed the mask, stamped my sentiment and layered on a peach coloured base card.

I would like to enter my card at:
Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - Masking
Allsorts - Inspired by Summer
Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes
Stempelsonne - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Next up is the card I made as a 'warm up'.

Sometimes it is good to have a little play with a vague idea as a way of finding out where it is taking you. This is what I did here. Again I stamped the helenium in the center, masked, stamped my frame and masked again before stamping the flowers either side of the frame. Leaving both masks in place I coloured the outer flowers and sponged a little Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi and Marina Mist. I then removed both masks, stamped my sentiment and layered on a white base card.

TIP!: Use the colour of your base card to highlight your main image. In my cards the peach helps to highlight the single coloured flower whereas the white base card helps to highlight the b&w helenium.

There is a little craft along video on how I made my first card.

That's it from me for today. Hope you enjoyed this quick and fun make. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to leave a comment for your chance to win a prize. I shall be back soon with more inspiration and projects.
Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

  

Sunshine On a Cloudy Day

Hi Everyone!

Today you'll be treated to a crisp CAS card which was inspired by the sentiment I chose.

It is quick and easy to make too. I used the ARTplorations Clouds stencil for my sun and cloud. Rather than blending the ink for my cloud I dabbed it using a dried baby wipe. This gave it the textured appearance. I stamped my sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 set and die cut the stitched square before popping it all on my base card with 3D foam.

I am entering my card at:
Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Inspired by Summer
Time Out - inspired by the phrase 'friendship is golden'
CASology -  code word 'precious'
Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - masking, I had to mask the sun and the cloud off individually before stenciling the other

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration and fun ideas. Once there you can also check out the current challenges. If you like working with a theme, sketch or CASE, you're sure to find something to play along.

I shall be back tomorrow. See you the and in the meantime ...
Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
stencil and stamps available from STAMPlorations, links are in the text
 
Crushed Curry and Pool Party inks by Stampin'Up! - my local demonstrator
Diagonal stitched die by die-namics - available in the UK from Amazon
Tuxedo Block Memento ink by Tsukineko - local craft shop

Playing With Wax Crayons

OOOOPS!!! This post was meant to be published on Thursday .... and then I forgot. Sorry, I was so tired, feeling more energetic again and ready to post. As you can see it is another one of my Spotlight Post from the STAMPlorations Blog

Hi Everyone. Today I am playing with children's wax crayons. Yes, they are the same parents buy to keep their children occupied during the long Summer holidays. I wanted to see if it was possible to create resist effects combining crayons and ink blending. The stamps I used are from the current Stamp Club set Floral Bliss. Here is how I got on:

• I started off by Stamping and white embossing the larkspur from the Floral Bliss set.
• Next I added some highlights to the embossed image and in a few places outside of where my frame was going to be using a white wax crayon.
• Then I blended tempting turquoise ink all over and added some more crayon before stamping my frame in black and the larkspur in pacific point.
• to finish I blended pacific point around the edges and a little over my embossed flower, added the sentiment, some highlights with a glitter gel pen and a white doodled border

Here is another look at the finished card.

There is also a video on how I made this card. I was meant to be a short one, but then I got into wonky stamping, which called for a rescue mission. If you fancy having a look, here it is, easy to craft along:

That's it from me for today. I shall be looking forward to seeing your creations and how you use this technique. I shall be back again soon.
Have a lovely day!
hugs
Monika xxx

 

CASEplorations August

Hi Everyone,

It is CASEplorations time again over at the STAMPlorations Blog. Today I'm not sharing one but two cards.

First we need to know what we're about to CASE. This month we are taking inspiration from Karen Dunbrook, who made this beautiful card ...

She posted about it here on her blog Snippets when she was Guest Designer for our Stamps & Die Cuts Challenge last August. She used stencil, stamp and die cut in her card.

This is my first interpretation ...

I used the ARTplorations Gridlocked and Bloom Factory stencils combined with the Subway Art Builders: Create. I started off by [pacing the Gridlocked stencil on a piece of white card and sprayed it with turquoise Artiste Spritzing Ink. I removed the stencil, placed the Bloom Factory stencil on my still damp card, I wanted the colours to mix a little, and sprayed a little green. Once dry I embossed my SAB in black and stenciled some white Craft ink through my Bloom Factory stencil in a few patches to lighten and add texture to my background before layering up and adding a die-cut butterfly with pearl to finish.

For my second card I simply sprayed turquoise ink through the Bloom Factory stencil, stamped the SAB and added birdie from the Small Birds set to finish. I needed something to lift my card as the simply stamped SAB didn't provide the contrast I wanted hence birdie is bright orange. :-)

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more inspiration. This is also where you can find and link up with any other current challenges or simply comment to win draws. Each month we invite you to CASE any of our cards featured in the Inpiration Post and link them up for your chance to win a prize. By the way you can use any type of stamps you like to CASE our projects, and we'd be over the moon if you were to use STAMPlorations stamps, but you don't have to. Hope to see you in the Inspiration Case Playground to have fun and enjoy!

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used:
Stamp and ARTplorations stenils by STAMPlorations, links are in the text
   

butterfly die - Britannia dies