STAMPlorations inspiration #265

It's time for our last April Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team!

Here's my last masculine CAS card.

 Wonderful Life stamp
Copics and washi tape

Is it actually masculine? I think with the primary colors and the B/W it could be. I was thinking about my DS when making it and would definitely give it to him. But it could be for a gal too. Guess I can't stick to the masculine theme for too long ;)

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd really appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order - at no extra cost to you, just with perks for me ;)

Looking for more inspiration with this stamp set? Check out this post.

Thanks for stopping over today. Have a great week.

simon says stamp - mum die

It may not be the easiest to shop and get delivery of goodies these days, but Simon Says Stamp has some newly released items that we are sharing with you today. And according to Heidi, owner of the store, as of yesterday shipping has now resumed, albeit at a slower pace!

The new release is called Sunny Days Ahead. One of the products in the new release is the Mum Word and Shadow die and lucky me, I got to have a play with it. Clearly, this would be a great product for creating Mother's Day cards, but I lost my own "mum" about three years ago. You can bet I had her in mind as I was in my craft room playing with this word die.

Rainbow colors happened...

 SSS Mum Word and Shadow die
Altenew Watercolor Pan
SSS Sentiment Strips Reverse Love

I painted the rainbow with a wide, flat brush and then adhered the gold, stacked "mum" and a sentiment strip. Simple. But true.

For my second card, I used up the leftover watercolors from the rainbow to paint some die cut roses. I started with the most watered down tone on the top layer and then added more pigment for each subsequent layer. The sentiment was die cut from glitter cardstock and I stamped a "wishing you only the best" sentiment from an older SSS stamp set, Apothecary Labels, inside.

SSS Mum Word and Shadow die
Altenew Rose Flurries die
Altenew Watercolor Pan
vellum 

I have one more card for you, this was the result of wondering which other word dies I had that could work with "mum". I chuckle about this card - it's a mixing of British and American English at its best ;)  How dare I, eh?

SSS Mum Word and Shadow die

SSS You Da Best die

SSS Large Hearts Set die

The only question was a color scheme (I had some recycled pink cardboard in my hand and chose black to show it off) and where to place the die cut heart! 

Check out all the makes with the products from the release in the gallery here. And watch for the hops this weekend too.

I'm adding my second card to the SSS Wednesday Challenge where it's all about Flowers this week. The perfect theme!

STAMPlorations inspiration #264

Howdy #stayathome peeps. It's time for another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team!

Remember my theme for April? Masculine CAS cards. Here's #3.

 Baa Baa stamp
washi tape

Going for something spring-y and punny, Shirley's sheep came to mind. The thick lines on the image, and the solid areas add a lot of interest on their own. Stamp him off the edge, and add a sentiment in an unexpected spot and I think you've got yourself a cool card. I used washi for grass to ground him. You could use a PP snippet too.

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd really appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order - at no extra cost to you, just with perks for me ;)

Looking for more inspiration with this punny stamp set? Check out this post.

I'm joining the Animal fun over at Addicted to CAS.

Thanks for stopping over today. Have a peaceful week. I'm still doing my part to stop the virus spread. And you?

CAS cards challenge april reminder

Hello there! I'm back with a mid-month reminder about the CAS card challenge at STAMPlorations.

Here's the April inspiration.

The challenge is anything goes with an optional color twist - this month is lemon yellow and I just had to go with the lemon yellow color (as I create these cards in Feb and am really ready for bright and sunny days). And lemons too. Though like I said before I must admit both my cards this month are pushing the definition of CAS a bit...

Today's card, using white embossing. If you missed my black embossed lemons click here.

STAMPlorations Layered Citrus stamp
watercolors
embossing powder

CAS card tip: You could use this idea but keep it super CAS by embossing one image only (maybe in the middle or in the lower left sweet spot) and adding the watercolor around it.

So I heat embossed the images from the set which are actually meant to be used to color in the outlines. Then I applied a light wash of watercolor in a triangular area in the middle of the panel. I added some green splatters in a nod to foliage and let it all dry. I came back in with a bit more yellow color around the heat embossed images, added my sentiment and called it good.

The torn edges? Not very CAS but I found them fitting for this artsy (and definitely summery) take on lemons :)

I'm looking forward to your CAS card creations this month! Your project might be chosen as the winner of a GC to the shop. Check out how the DT was inspired by this month's photo here.

And don't forget about my STAMPlorations discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off should you find yourself shopping ;)  Are you doing a lot of that during this #stayathome?
Thanks for stopping over. See you in the gallery.

STAMPlorations inspiration #263

Hope you and yours are hanging in there. It's time for another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team!

Remember my theme for April? Masculine CAS cards. Ready for #2?

 Tweet Love stamp
Tags #1 die

Altenew Inks

white embossing powder

No idea where this idea originated. I was in the mood for more watercoloring. Grabbed my set of blue Altenew inks. Decided to heat emboss the balloons off the edge and watercolor them with four blue tones (hard to tell in the photo).

Then I decided the strings of the wafting balloons could be pulling a sentiment tag. And I kinda like aqua and red as a color combo. It doesn't actually have to be masculine I guess.

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd really appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order - at no extra cost to you, just with perks for me ;)

Looking for more inspiration with this stamp set? Check out this post.

Thanks for stopping over today. Have a great week.

spotlight on spin art - part 2

Hello there friends! I've got another super fun Spotlight project for you today over at STAMPlorations. Did you see last month's? Have you heard about Spin Art? Have you tried it?

Here's a card I made using one of the backgrounds I made in my salad spinner.

And here's another.

Check out my tutorial - I even made my first-ever video for ya!

another easter bunny

I created another Easter bunny like the one I did for a three-year-old girl for the United We Craft Blog Party Simon Says Stamp came up with. This one's for a one-year-old boy. Hope he likes the googly eyes.

Again I've used the Faberge Egg die to create the bunny's head.

 SSS Faberge Egg die

fabric, PP, thread, pom pom, googly eyes

Stitched the BG paper to the card and used fabric scraps for the ears. Added a pom pom and wispy threads for the nose.The sentiment is from the fancy part of the egg die. Outside "happy". Inside "Easter".

I wish you and yours the same. Happy Easter.

STAMPlorations inspiration #262

Happy April! It's time for the first Tuesday inspiration of the month from the STAMPlorations inspiration team!

I finished up last month with masculine cards and that led me to a theme of masculine CAS cards for this month. Ready for #1?

 Birds of Paradise stamp and die

Zig clean color real brush markers

bronze embossing powder

So the Birds of Paradise were out cuz I'd considered using them for my cards last month. And I was feeling all Ziggy. So I heat embossed and colored a fun bird. What to do with him? How about plop him onto the middle of a white card? Opted for a sketchy sentiment on a punched blue circle and Voila!

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd really appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order - at no extra cost to you, just with perks for me ;)

Looking for more inspiration with these fun birds? Check out this post.

Thanks for stopping over today. Have a great week. I'm stopping by at:
Craft Stamper - TIMI April
Die Cut Divas - Animals
AAA Cards - Made in Minutes

simon says stamp - united we craft 2

Have you checked out the United We Craft Party over at Simon Says Stamp. Lots of inspiration with some of the older products you might have in your stash as you get creative in your #stayathome and #flattenthecurve time.

In yesterday's post I did some die cutting with the Faberge Egg. Then I looked through my background stamps thinking it was due time for some therapeutic coloring. These two cards happened.

 SSS Kaleidoscope stamp

SSS Hello die
Papertrey Hello die
Action Deutschland banner die

Copics

Hope you are all doing OK with the home isolation. We're hanging in there. I believe that united we got this! Happy Sunday.

simon says stamp - united we craft

So I gotta be honest. When the Corona virus came to town, my mojo just got up and went.

I know everyone has a load to bear during this. Mine is worrying about my Dad who I should be moving back to his house right now after his snowbirding for the winter. But that ain't happening. Instead he's hunkering down in his apartment in the senior living place. And I'm prayin' we make it through to the other side. Perhaps this is why I haven't been in my craft room.

But I was glad to get the kick in the butt to participate in this fabulous United We Craft Party Simon came up with. And getting a commission for a couple kids' Easter cards helped too. (Too funny, my friend texted me "Are you in home office? Could you make..." I'm always in home office ;)

Enter Faberge Egg die.  Which is from the recent Lucky to Know You release at Simon Says Stamp.

First up for a three-year-old. Can you spot the egg?!?

 SSS Faberge Egg die

SSS Happy die

fabric, thread, pom pom, googly eyes

Got the idea from Pinterest. Why not make the bunny's head with a nice big egg? Since I'd just been in a face mask sewing mode (here's where I got the pattern), I used some fabric scraps for the ears. And whiskers from all the threads I'd cut off while sewing! Even stitched the PP onto the cardbase. Sweet. Interactive (eyes) and tactile. (Inside reads "Easter" from the fancy part of the egg die.)

Then for the 7-year-old...

 SSS Faberge Egg die
Savvy grass die
Alexandra Renke rabbit die
Action Deutschland cloud die
Basic Grey PP, glitter CS, sequins

I thought she could have fun with the various layers (I glued two cardbases together to have three panels before die cutting). Even stamped some pink eggs all over the card so she could go on an egg hunt ;)

Of course for a girly card I couldn't not use some glitter cardstock and add some iridescent butterflies.

For more ideas using this fun die, take a look at this post.

I hope you are all doing OK with your "loads". Hang in there and craft away. An idea I thought I'd share with you... I put together packages of five hello/thinking of you/birthday cards from my stash (in recycled cellophane stamp set bags) and dropped them off in neighbors' mailboxes with a note saying "no time like the present to send a handwritten greeting to brighten someone's day".

United we got this!

CAS cards challenge april

Hello there! So how many times have you already been fooled today? We're back with a new CAS card challenge at STAMPlorations and it's no joke. 

Here's the April CAS Cards challenge inspiration.

As always the challenge is anything goes with an optional color twist - this month is lemon yellow and I just had to go with the lemon yellow color (as I create these cards in Feb and am really ready for bright and sunny days). And why not go with lemons too? Though I must admit both my cards this month are pushing the limits of CAS ...

Today's card.

STAMPlorations Layered Citrus stamp
Zig clean color real brush
embossing powder

So I had this idea to use the lemons and do some black heat embossing and some white heat embossing. In my reminder post you'll see the white embossed design. It's amazing what different looks they have.

I tried something different here. Instead of using the layering stamps to color the lemons, I swiped color inside the embossed areas with a Zig marker (light yellow inside, brighter yellow for the skin) and then spritzed the entire panel with water. Let the water activate the color. Tilted the panel a bit this way and that and voila! Looks like sloshed on watercolor.

CAS card tip: Although kinda busy, by using only one color and still maintaining a lot of white you can achieve a sorta clean and very simple design ;) 

For more inspiration with this stamp set (and a real CAS card) check out this post.

I'm looking forward to your CAS card creations this month! Your project might be chosen as the winner of a GC to the shop. Check out how the DT was inspired by this month's photo here.

And don't forget about my STAMPlorations discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off should you find yourself shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over. See you in the gallery.