STAMPlorations inspiration #180

It's summer break time over at STAMPlorations through September, but we're popping in today with an inspiration post from the inspiration DT .

This month I'm creating with the Stamp Club set Succulently. I was inspired during the Daily Marker 30 Day challenge to color. Meet today's creation.

 STAMPlorations Succulently stamp and die
Twisted Citron Distress Oxide

Zing pink embossing powder

Polychromos

Did you see my card last week - randomly stamped. Well today's is nearly the same design but withe the images stamped in green, the light touches of green and yellow on the leaves and the pink sentiment, the feel is totally different. This definitely has a femine twist to it, don't you think?

Just a reminder to make multiple cards when you're creating. Even if you switch out the colors, it's an economy of scale thing. Saves brain time and reduces your average time spent on a card ;)

A reminder that during the STAMP summer break, every Tuesday all stamps, dies and stencils in the shop are 15% off. Use my code STAMPGIRLMARIA to get an additional 20% off. One random commenter will win a $10 GC this month too.

simon says stamp diamond pattern - create a pattern 2

Thanks, Simon, for sending me a Diamond Pattern background stamp from the new release, Friendly Frolic, to play with. Continuing my search to see what I could come up with in terms of patterns, I came up with this idea to fill those empty spaces. How about with die cut letters?

SSS Diamond Pattern stamp

SSS Alphabet Blocks die

SSS Summer Garden stamp

Grabbed some of the first PP I bought from Pinkfresh Studio - Up in the Clouds - and used it to pep up this card fill some of those empty spaces. Included a strip of PP under the die cut letters to accentuate them more, and stamped "you" and some leaves around the edges too.

Check out the Simon Says Stamp blog for all the products in this release and tons of inspiration too. Thanks for visiting.

I'm playing at:
SSS Wednesday - AG

simon says stamp diamond pattern - create a pattern 1

Thanks, Simon, for sending me a Diamond Pattern background stamp from the new release, Friendly Frolic, to play with. My next idea was to see what I could come up with in terms of patterns by moving/rotating the stamp. I must admit the simplicity and large empty spaces of the stamp daunted me a bit.

So I played.

Move the stamp to connect the lines.

Stamp as is, then turn 45 degrees.

Stamp randomly and make confetti.

Picked a pattern and stamped it just to create a barely there BG for some pretty blooms. I used SSS Fog ink. Then I colored the die cut pieces and built the flower. Added the sentiments and fell in love with the result :)

 SSS Diamond Pattern stamp

SSS Tattered Poppy die

SSS Wishing die

SSS Wishing stamp

Action Twinmarkers

white embossing powder

I'm on a mini-vacation before vacation (lucky me) but I'll have a couple more creations for you next week if you stop by again.

Check out the Simon Says Stamp blog for all the products in this release and tons of inspiration too. Thanks for visiting.

I'm playing at:
SSS Wednesday - AG
Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies

ATSAM - Make your Mark

Always Fun Challenges - #68

guest designing at cas on friday

I'm joining the talented ladies over at CAS on Friday today for this fortnight's challenge which is "Tag It". I decided to use a tag along with the spotlight technique for this wedding card for a friend's daughter.

Altenew Sketchy Floral stamp

WPlus9 Timeless Tags die

Ellen Hutson Congrats die

Altenew inks - Blush, Grapevine, Paper Bag, Deep Iris

So this wonderful stamp does nearly all the work for you. And as lovely as it looks colored, it's also pretty amazing in B/W, especially with a small portion colored for interest. I used Altenew inks and my water brush.

And take that interest up a notch by popping it up a notch. I stamped the image onto CS and die cut the tag shape, then adhered it with foam tape in the appropriate spot. I added a sentiment die cut from rose gold foil CS. On the inside I stamped the bride and groom's names (with this great alpha set) and a strip of washi.

I chose my colors from the Pantone Quietude palette over at Ellen Hutson.

Thanks for having me, CAS on Friday. I hope you'll play along. Happy weekend!

simon says stamp diamond pattern - black and white

Thanks, Simon, for sending me a Diamond Pattern background stamp from the new release, Friendly Frolic, to play with. My first idea was to use it as a background stamp (ha!) once in black and once in white.

First, the black version. With a twist.

 SSS Diamond Pattern stamp

SSS Summer Garden stamp

SSS Clustered Leaves die

MFT Fishtail Stax die

white embossing powder

Distress Inks

Nuvo drops

washi

To make this BG I masked the top portion of the panel, inked up the stamp with DI Black Soot, spritzed it with water and the CS with a light spray of water, then let the MISTI door fall shut. This created that artsy "splashed" look I was going for.

I die cut the leaves, blended Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio inks and spritzed with perfect pearls mix. Heat embossed the sentiment and added some Nuvo drops. See all the sparkle?

For the white version, I angled the stamp before stamping it onto my card with Versamark. Heat embossed it white and added the other half of the leaf die cut sponged with Festive Berries, Ripe Persimmon and Carved Pumpkin. Added the die cut sentiment. Voila!

Which do you like better? Warm or cold?

Check out the Simon Says Stamp blog for all the products in this release and tons of inspiration too. Thanks for visiting.

I'm playing at:
SSS Wednesday - AG
Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies

ATSAM - Make your Mark

testing action twinmarkers again

Yesterday I told you about my discovery of  Twinmarker alcohol markers at a nearby Action store!

I stamped this ginormous but gorgeous stamp (had to have but hadn't used yet - you know that kind?) onto some Neenah CS and pulled out the colors that most spoke to me from my new markers and just colored them in.

Now I'd stamped the image off the edge of the CS scrap. But cheapo me, couldn't bring myself to then throw it away after I'd colored it. So I came up with this design idea. I'm calling it a variation on spotlight stamping.

  Altenew Sketchy Floral stamp

Action Twinmarkers

I wouldn't call these markers the greatest on earth. They have only a broad and a fine tip. There are not many light colors. But they're nice and juicy. And I like the color tones. And, as you can tell, I'm not the greatest colorer, so I'm satisfied. I've decreased my price per marker average ;)

Added a coat of Wink of Stella to all the colored images before fussy cutting them and glueing them to a B/W stamped image creating this one layer card. The inside reads "to call you friend". The sentiments in the stamp set are gorgeous too. Just sayin'.

Come by on Friday. I've used this beautiful stamp again for some real spotlight stamping.

I'm playing at:
Craft Stamper - July Take it Make it AG
Paper Players - #402 (I'm thinking I've accentuated the negative space around my image with the simple stamped image, but I may be wrong)

testing action twinmarkers

So, have you ever set foot in an Action store? This may only apply to Germans. Or Europeans. Consider it a dollar store. Most likely full of goods made in China. Let's not talk about the likelihood of bad chemicals in the plastics... Or product knock-offs...

But, I stepped foot. (Actually called DH to tell him to eat leftovers without me cuz I was gonna be late for lunch due to losing myself in the craft aisle!!) And emerged with a bag of crafting goodness. Cheap. Including some Twinmarker alcohol markers at a dollar for a three pack! Now I was raised to always peruse the sale racks - remind me to tell you the popcorn story sometime. So I couldn't resist giving these markers a try. I know, I shouldn't have. But I did.

This stamp/die combo also fell into my bag BTW, so when I got home I had to give them a test drive.

 Craft Sensations stamp/die

Action Twinmarkers

Distress ink

Added a touch of DI before I arranged my bouquet. Used a little bit of foam tape to give some dimension. The sentiment is from an embossing folder/stamp set. Bought it just for that sentiment!

I'm happy with my new toys. Come back tomorrow for another test drive.

I'm playing at:
SSS Wednesday - Dies/Punches
Craft Stamper - July Take it Make it AG
Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies

ATSAM - AG

Always Fun Challenges - #68

STAMPlorations inspiration #179

It's summer break time over at STAMPlorations through September, but we're popping in today with another inspiration post from the inspiration DT .

This month I'm creating with the Stamp Club set Succulently. Meet today's creation.

 STAMPlorations Succulently stamp and die

white embossing powder

Copics

You know I love to random stamp. So I did. Gave the succulents a touch of color with some simple Copic coloring and then added the heat embossed sentiment on that die cut. Crisp. Clean. Maybe even masculine, right?

Come back next Tuesday for a very similar design with a completely different feel to it.

A question for you... See those purple blobs on the leaves in the lower right corner? As I was adding the bits of purple, those blobs of ink dropped out of my Copic sketch marker! What up with that, anyone know?

A reminder that during the STAMP summer break, every Tuesday all stamps, dies and stencils in the shop are 15% off. Use my code STAMPGIRLMARIA to get an additional 20% off. One random commenter will win a $10 GC this month too.

I'm joining these challenges:
SSS Wednesday - Use a Die or Punch
Sunday Stamps - #183

i scream for rainbow ice cream (who wouldn't?)

Maybe you saw yesterday's card?

So in the Icecream for You set that DD just brought back from MI for me, there was also this sentiment about ice cream and rainbows. Nuff said.

And CAS(e) this Sketch has this fun sketch.

So this happened...

 The Stamp Market Icecream for You stamp

Altenew Inks

Did you catch the bit of doily wrapped around the cone? And the heat embossed sprinkles? I used sponge daubers to apply ink to the stamp to get that softer look.

I'm joining these challenges too:
AAA Cards - Rainbow

Addicted to CAS - Summertime

Addicted to Stamps and More - AG

House of Cards - Popsicle/Food

i scream for superman ice cream

When planets align...

So DD just returned from a visit to MI and she had room in her suitcase for one of the packages of stamping goodies that was waiting for me at my Dad's. It happened to be my order from The Stamp Market and included a fun little set, Icecream for You, that was free with purchase recently.

And CAS(e) this Sketch has this fun sketch.

Ice cream. The sketch. So this happened...

 The Stamp Market Icecream for You stamp

Honey Bee Grunge Alphabet stamp

Distress Inks

Here's the inside using Hero Arts Enjoy the Journey and Pinkfresh washi ...

Now call me crazy, but do you get a unicorn vibe from this card? How about looking at it from this angle? The horn up top. The sentiment as the eyes. The scoop of ice cream as the muzzle. And he's just spit out his sprinkles!

Fun, eh? I'm having fun at these challenges too:
Addicted to CAS - Summertime

Addicted to Stamps and More - AG

House of Cards - Popsicle/Food

STAMPlorations summer release - word dies

Welcome to the last day of the STAMPlorations Summer Release. Today it's all about four new word dies from Shery Russ.

First I paired them up with a stencil...

Fantastic word die

Incredible word die

Brilliant word die

You word die

Leaf Prints stencil

Distress Ink

craft foam

After I'd taped down the stencil, leaving a slight masked frame around the edges, I used a Sharpie to trace a few of the leaves. Then I used sponge daubers to apply Festive Berries, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed and Cracked Pistachio inks.

I die cut "you" from the card front and craft foam. Adhered the white word die cuts. Then adhered the "camouflaged" you.

For my next card, I die cut "bravo" from post it tape and dabbed the same DI colors around it. First the yellow, then orange, then red... If you're thinking the Cracked Pistacio is a bit "off", you're right. Although I tried to wipe off the DI from the mask each time, after I'd done the red, a bit of it transferred to the green area. Note to self: Next time cut two masks, one for warm, one for cool tones ;)

Bravo word die
Purrfectly Pawsome stamp
Distress Inks

white embossing powder

Using colored pencils, I added a bit more color to the kitty so he'd pop off the BG a bit.

Did you see how I used the Bravo die stacked to hang my vines on this card?

Shery's offering prizes as always. Leave comments by July 23 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running - there's a $25 GC and also your choice of a stamp set and word die from this release up for grabs!  Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Happy Little Stampers - July AG with Dies