May Mixed Media Challenge

Hello, Crafty Friends!

Welcome to May 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 May is ... a set of Butterfly ATCs ....

... which I made as an entry for a swap over on Facebook (UK Stamper's Forum). This was one project where I had to just go with the flow. I stared off with a shaving foam background which I made some time ago using red, orange and green. I stenciled over it using Starlight paint through the Doily Squares stencil. You can't see the colour, but you can still pick up the texture underneath the red. I added some dotty Washi tape and Dry Wall Tape (plasterboard tape) before deciding that it all needed to be covered with a little gesso and red Liquitex ink.

Now this is where I tried out something new. I picked up the Daisy Play stencil and my oil pastels, used white for the daisies and yellow around the edges. I die-cut the solid Flutter Zen 1 butterfly, stamped with the sentiments from the Art Marks set and painted it with Cosmic Skin Dazzle Paint.

I stamped the butterfly from the Trendy Butterflies 2 set, coloured with Promarkers, layered as seen, added some shading and glossy accents. It is worth to note here that the glossy accents reacted with the red Promarker and changed the poppy red to what looks like burnt orange.

I then added rub-on borders and sentiments and finished off with sequins and copper Stickles.

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.

Ooops, almost forgot to mention the prizes: one winner as chosen by the Mixed Media DT will receive a $10 gift certificate and two Top Picks will receive a $5 gift certificate each, all of course redeemable at the STAMPlorations Shop ... but that's not all ... if there are 25 or more entries one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive two standard sized stencils of their choice.

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/Masks: Daisy Play, Doily Squares
Both are new stencils and should be listed in the shop shortly.

STAMPlorations Stamps: Trendy Butterflies 2, Art Marks,
 

CUTplorations Dies: Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies

*** The personal discount coupon STAMPGIRLMONIKA works on already reduced items too, but can not be combined with any other coupon codes.

CUTplorations May

Hello Crafty Friends!

A new month ... an new challenge, over at STAMPlorations the May CUTplorations Challenge has started. Here is my DT piece ...

How did it come about? Well, the CUTplorations Chellenge is a monthly challenge requiring you to use die(s) and take inspiration from the monthly changing photo which for this month is ...

image source: g5g5g5g5g5 images pixabay.com

So what have we got?

• flowers
• hearts
• leaves
• sunshine
• bricks/wall
• colours

As you can see, I went with ...

• bricks
• colours green pink, grey and white
• hearts
• the flowers reminded me of bunting

I stamped the brick pattern, added the stamped, watercoloured and fuzzy cut bunting, my die-cut wonderful from a blended piece of card, the word day cut from white card using the Lowercase Alphabet Plate Die, the small hearts from the Clustered Hearts Die, a bit of stamped sentiment, splattering, doodling and twine to finish.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to see how my teamies interpreted the photo and to link up your entry too. There are prizes for the winner ($10 gift certificate) and the two runner-ups ($5gift certificate each) as voted by the DT plus, if there are 30 or more entries, one randomly drawn winner can choose any 2 of the CUTplorations Word/Phrase Dies the DT used in their projects. That's well worth creating for, what do you think?

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 used: Wonderful Word Die, Clustered Hearts Die, Lowercase Alphabet Die Plate
  
STAMPlorations Stamps used: Balloons And Banners, Mixed Media Grunge, Blossom Overture
  

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Stamp Spotlight April Release

Hello Craft Friends!

It's Blog Hop Time over at STAMPlorations to celebrate and showcase their latest stamp release, 4 gorgeous sets to celebrate the feminine.

First up is Sweet & Sassy Mom designed by Becca, a set of 6 image and 7 sentiment stamps, which I used to make this super CAS card ...

Next up another CAS card showcasing the flowers from Deepti's Best Mom Ever (1 large floral image and 4 sentiment stamps) and a sentiment from Shery's One Cool Chick set with a little bit of Spotlight Colouring and orange embossing thrown into the mix ...

Well I did add some glossy accents to that yellow flower too after a bit of a lucky escape. I used Promarkers to colour an image I had intended to watercolour. Yep, Archival ink and alcohol markers is not a good combination. Luckily I realized what happened early on and was able to avoid going over the stamped lines when colouring. 😌

Next up is the card I made using Shery's set, One Cool Chick (1 girlie image and 9 sentiment stamps), in combination with Noteworthy and the Lacy Edges And Borders CUTplorations Dies.

A little bit of watercolouring, splattering, foiling, fuzzy cutting around part of the image and die-cutting a border was all that was needed to make this card. I used holographic silver foil which gives my design a lovely colourful border when catching the light.

Last, but not least, is Shirley's Parfumerie, a set of 9 image and 2 sentiment stamps, perfect for those watercoloured CAS cards.

Stamped and watercoloured with a little shadow, I added some fine splattering to give the impression of spraying the viewer with fragrance from the bottle.
I am entering this scented card at:
Less Is More - Shadow


CASology - Flow


As always with a blog hop there are prizes to be won. Two winners will be drawn at random from all the comments left on the STAMPlorations Blog and the participating designers blogs. One winner will win her/his choice of stamp set and the other one will win a $15 gift certificate redeemable at the STAMPlorations Shop. Commenting closes Monday 8th May, and the winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations Blog in the winners post on Wednesday 10th May.

Here is one last look at my DT projects for the Hop ...

That's it from me for today. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for all the links of the participating designers blogs and to leave comments along the way. I shall be back on Friday with my DT contribution to May's CUTplorations Challenge. See you then!
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:

Sweet & Sassy Mom, Best Mom Ever, One Cool Chick, Parfumerie
   

Notewothry, Lacy Edges And Borders CUTplorations Dies
 

*** Discount code works on sale items too

The Ultimate Accessory

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 Parfumerie one of the New Release Sets to create a one-layers CAS card. Here it is ...

Pretty straight forward, I stamped the bottle, coloured with watercolour and added a little shadow, added some scribbled foiling, sentiment and gems to finish.

I am entering my card at:
Less Is More - Shadow


CASology - Flow

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 10% apart from the Faerie Door and Brew-tiful Day sets which will be 20% off. Yes, that's correct, Shery has reduced two sets by 20% each this week. Plus, if you were to use my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA, you could save yourself an extra 20% on top of that .... just saying ....

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:
Parfumerie

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Happy Thoughts

Hello Crafty Friends!

Today I am sharing a quick card with you, simply stamped and masked using the Bloom Happy set by STAMPlorations.

You might remember from Tuesday's post that I said I would make a card using the Bloom Happy set as it is on sale until Monday 1st May with a 20% discount over at the STAMPlorations Shop. You could turn this into 40% off by entering my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA. All the other sets designed by Shery are reduced by 10% (30% if you use my code) until Monday. The sale discount is automatically applied at checkout.

Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more Roundup Inspiration.

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:

Bloom Happy


*** Discount code works on sale items too

Things With Wings 4

Hello Crafty Friends!

The Things With Wings Spring Blog Hop And Linky Party over at STAMPlorations is in full swing. As a little reminder, I made today's card using Spring Flower CUTplorations Layering Dies with a little help from the Trendy Butterflies 2 and a large sentiment which is a sign of things to come.

What do you think of my fourth make for the 25 days of celebrating Spring with all things winged?

So how did I make it? I started off creating my own mask by cutting the solid Spring Flower from a piece of card. I then sponged with Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight inks before randomly stamping the butterflies and smaller sentiments. To finish I added some splatters, the golden filigree Spring Flower, the large sentiment and a few sequins.

Apart from the new range of Layering Dies, STAMPlorations have released some great Spring themed sentiment dies, floral dies and stamps too. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to check them out and, of course, to join the party through commenting and linking up your winged projects. Commenting and linking up is from Wednesday 5th April to Sunday 30th April, 11.55 pm Pacific.

As always there are prizes to be won: 

• (3) randomly drawn winners from all comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blog will each receive a $10 gift certificate to the store
• (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Trendy Butterflies 2 + either Flutter Zen 1 or Flutter Zen 2 layering dies
• (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Sweet Spring Wishes stamp set + Dragonfly layering dies
• (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Trendy Spring Blooms dies
• (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Sweet Spring Wishes phrase dies
• (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive a $20 gift certificate to the store.

All the links you need to comment and join the party can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog. For more winged inspiration, check out their post here too.

Hop along and 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:
CUTplorations Dies:
Spring Flower

 

STAMPlorations Stamps:

Trendy Butterflies 2

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Flourishes From The Heart

Hello Crafty Friends!

I got another card for sharing today. It's a postcard I made for a swap at the UK Stampers Forum FB Group. The theme for April is Swirls.

I picked up the Heart Frame Die from The Works a few weeks ago and decided to use it as my center piece on a colourful background with a little stamping using the following sets by STAMPlorations: Distressed Floral Swirls, Floral Bliss and a sentiment from It's All About You. 

Here it is ...

I'll just let you feast on a few close-ups ...

As it is going in the post as a postcard without envelope, I gave the front of my postcard a generous coat of Mod Podge. It changes the appearance slightly, but kept all of the stamped detail as you can see from the photos below.

I used this card as an inspiration for a video tutorial. It is a little lengthy and takes you through the process of how I made a similar card for my post here.

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:
STAMPlorations Stamps:
Distressed Floral Swirls, Floral Bliss, It's All About You
    

here is what I used in the video in addition to the above stamp sets:
Spring Flower Layering Dies, Mixed Media Elements Scribbly Splattery Grunge
  

*** Discount code works on sale items too

The inks I used are by Stampin'Up!: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry