STAMPlorations new release - layered poppies

Hi again peeps! Back today with another beautiful set from the new release from Shirley B. over at the STAMPlorations shop. Today we're introducing Layered Poppies.

First I used my Altenew red inks to stamp the two layers of each of the three blooms onto sky blue PP. Then I stamped the outlines in black.

Layered Poppies stamp

Bloomdala Bliss stamp

Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity die

 inks, green embossing powder

To complete my design I did some tone-on-tone inking through a Felicity scrap paper die cut (using it like a stencil) to represent three clouds up top. Then I drew stems with a Versamark marker and added some texture by heat embossing them.

For my next card I went with more white space, and my fave, random stamping.  Hope you'll forgive me that I didn't use the set as a "layered" stamp here, but I have to tell you, when I first received the set the first thing that I saw was a butterfly. Do you see it too?

Layered Poppies stamp

Layered Watermelon stamp

 embossing powder

I considered adding pattern or at least antenna to the butterflies but then decided that the entire design was so abstract I'd leave it as is. The pops of color and texture make sure your eyes go to the images and I'm pretty sure your eye (brain?) sees a butterfly.

Don't you love Shirley's artistic designs? I just love her sketchy outlines, regardless the theme!

That's it from me today. Check out all the DT's creations over at the STAMP blog. Leave comments all around and you might be the lucky winner of one of Shirley's new stamp sets (to be announced on 6/29 on the STAMP blog.)

Thanks for coming by.  CU soon for the STAMPlorations 13th Birthday celebrations!

and still more milestone cards

Needed a 50th wedding anniversary card. Happened to know what the bride's outfit was going to look like so I modeled their card on it using a wonderful stamp set, Beautiful Blooms Builder from The Stamp Market and some Altenew inks ...

And I needed a 60th birthday card so did some gold heat embossing with Stamplorations Healing Herbs stamp on pretty patterned papers and voila!

 

Thanks for coming by today. 

STAMPlorations inspiration #347

It's time for another Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. 

As we roll along towards Christmas, I've been making cards with ephemera pieces. Lately I'm working with ATC backgrounds. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store.

Here's my card.

Christmas Backgrounds ATC 1

Patches stencil

Christmas Sentiments Phrase die

 Altenew inks

Like on my last card, I picked an ATC from the package and let its style and colors drive my design.

I thought the graphic style print behind the present looked like the Patches stencil so that's where my design took me. Stenciled some coral, pink and teals, then some splatters of water and called my background good. I die cut a word sentiment from inked cardstock, stacked it and voila!

I must admit I'm more of a "green and red Christmas" girl. But it was fun to challenge myself to turn this ATC into a Christmas card.

As always, you could win yourself a $15 prize code to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I should ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order.  Have a great day!    

STAMPlorations inspiration #346

Welcome to our Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. 

And welcome to December. Can you even believe it? I've been making Christmas cards with ephemera pieces lately if you've been watching ;) Now I'm working with another kind of ephemera from the STAMP store - ATC backgrounds. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store.

Meet today's card.

Christmas Backgrounds ATC 1

Christmas Joy Laser Cut Shapes

Christmas Joy stamp

Circles All Over Texture Plate

 Altenew inks, gems, gold embossing powder, washi

Not CAS today.  I chose the bell ATC and let its style and colors drive my design.

I did some multi-color stamping of the poinsettia on the laser cut shapes, picking up on the colors on the ATC. Spritzed the inks with my mini mister to soften the image and added gems to the centers. I added washi to the ATC and heat embossed a sentiment on a die cut oval. Picking up on the ornament and bead circles on the ATC I embossed the circle texture plate onto my purple card front.

I must admit I'm more of a "green and red Christmas" girl. But it was fun to challenge myself to turn this ATC into a Christmas card.

As always, you could win yourself a $15 prize code to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I should ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order.  Have a great day!   

STAMPlorations giving thanks blog hop

 

Howdy friends. Welcome to our seventh Giving Thanks Blog Hop celebration!  Hope you have time to check it out because there are plenty of prizes to be won.

Today I have a card made with a stamp set and a design I really like. I love it as a one layer card, but decided to layer it up a little today.

STAMPlorations Leaves of Thanks stamp

STAMPlorations Succulently die

Altenew and Distress Oxide inks, Heidi Swapp gold spray ink, gold embossing powder

Since I was layering, no masking was needed. I just stamped the various leaves in various fall colors around the area my sentiment was going to go. Added some splatters. Then I die cut and heat embossed the sentiment. Inked the die cut with oxide ink to match the orange leaves and gold embossed the edges too.

Hope you'll celebrate thankfulness with us.  Each morning when I wake I tell myself what I'm grateful to be able to do this day! I'm grateful for the opportunity to play with STAMPlorations fun products and hope that I'm able to inspire you to create too.

I mentioned prizes. There are $10 prizes up for grabs just for leaving comments on the stops on the hop. And there are generous prizes to be awarded randomly to three people who make a card and link it up to the linky party. Plus, Shery is always so generous there'll probably be other surprises too. The party ends December 8th. Hope you'll join us!

To see what the other gals have created check out this post. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

altenew november inspiration - take 4 and 5

Today I have two more makes for the current November Altenew Inspiration Challenge. 

This was yesterday's card inspired by the challenge...

Along with the scrap paper I had left after watercoloring those bloom layers...

Well I added a bit more distress oxide to the mess and got to die cutting. These two cards happened.

Altenew Super Script stamp

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Altenew 36 pan watercolor

oval die, gold paint, patterned paper

Altenew Peony Bouquet

Altenew Beautiful Day

Altenew Virginia Rose 3D die

Altenew inks, copper embossing powder, copper cardstock

Did you notice the little dots on some of the leaves? That's where the temporary adhesive runner was, holding my bloom layers in place as I watercolored! It acts like a mask for the watercolor/ink. When i rubbed the adhesive off, there were dots! Fun, eh? I'm just so happy I didn't throw that scrap paper away!

 

simon says stamp - creepy crawlers not just for halloween

I've had a play with the Creepy Crawlers background stamp and discovered it doesn't have to be just for Halloween (IMO). I used the spiders to add interest to a November birthday card for a guy.

Here it is.

SSS Creepy Crawlers stamp

Concord and 9th Laceleaf stamp/die

Inkystamp sentiment

Altenew Tranquility inks, distress oxides, silver and bronze embossing powder

There's actually quite a bit happening on this card. I was trying out new-to-me products. First I inked up a panel of Neenah white with the blue grays from Altenew. Decided it made a good night sky so I splattered some water and then some watered-down Black Soot ink. (See what I did with the leftover Black Soot on my next card ;)  Then I opted for some creepy crawlers hanging around in the night forest, first in gray then purple oxides.

Since this card is for a man and not a kid I had to cut the cute so I went with the leaf and an artistic sentiment, both heat embossed onto shimmer gray cardstock in two tones of powder. I love the effect. 

So I mentioned the leftover Black Soot. Did I mention I have a guy friend with a Halloween birthday? Enter more creepy crawlers.

SSS Creepy Crawlers stamp

SSS Alphabet Blocks die

STAMPlorations Number Plate die

I picked up the leftover ink with a panel of Neenah and then stamped the spiders. Used the numbers die cut negative piece which was laying around to back my sentiment and added a few dots of fake Nuvo drops which fit the grungy feel of this card perfectly. There's a belated birthday greeting stamped inside!

Thanks for visiting. I'm enjoying being back playing with my supplies. I'm hooking up at the SSS Monday Challenge where it's about Any Holiday Occasion and also the Stamptember Gallery cuz these creeply crawlers were part of that release.

STAMPlorations inspiration #330

Welcome to another summer Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls.

 

I've had another play with the ephemera tiles from the paper goods section of the STAMP store. This time I die cut one of the tiles into a circle for this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink card...

What's Up Ephemera

Art Marks 2 stamp

Birds of Paradise die

Art Border 3 die

Design Blox 7 stencil

I die cut the tile, a bird and another circle from inked scraps. I inked the edge of the cardbase using the stencil. Added some black stamping to the bird and larger circle and a little tidbit of die cut border and washi up top. Eclectic. But fun, right?

Thanks for looking.  As always, you could win yourself a $15 prize code to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts! Check out today's post over at STAMPlorations. And if I should ever inspire you to order something from the store, I'd appreciate it if you used my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code for an additional 20% off your order. 

CAS cards challenge march reminder

Have you played in the STAMPlorations March CAS Cards challenge? Get your green on! (Or not.)

As always the challenge is to create any CAS card, with an optional color twist - this month it's dark green and mint.

Meet my card.

Facets stencil

Baa Baa stamp

Altenew inks

Again I played with just a portion of a stencil, inking the masked off "heart" with light and dark green ink and getting a nice blend where the two overlapped. 

The sentiment continues inside "are my sunshine" where I also stenciled a sun for fun.

CAS card tip: Examine your stencils to find just a portion of one that you can ink or emboss onto a CAS card.

For more super CAS inspiration with this stamp set check out this post. I must say I love these sheep images with their bold black heads - they pair with bright colors so well.

I'm looking forward to your CAS card creations! Your project might be chosen as one of the prize winners. 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 I ever inspire you to do some shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over today. I'm stopping over at Crazy 4 Challenges where it's about Stencils and ATCAS where the challenge is Shapes.

CAS cards challenge march

Welcome to the STAMPlorations March CAS Cards challenge. Ready to get your green on?

As always the challenge is to create any CAS card, with an optional color twist - this month it's dark green and mint.

Here's my card.

Facets stencil

Fowl Play stamp

Altenew inks

Perhaps not as simple as you'd think due to quite a bit of masking in order to get just the parts of the stencil that I wanted for each color. But I like the result. 

CAS card tip: Examine your stencils to find just a portion of one that you can ink or emboss onto a CAS card.

For more inspiration with this stamp set check out this post. These birdies are perfect for perching on something.

I'm looking forward to your CAS card creations! Your project might be chosen as one of the prize winners. 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 I ever inspire you to do some shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over today. See you in the gallery. 

I'm joining in at:

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Addicted to CAS - Animal

simon says stamp - world of love sentiments 2

 

It's time for another release from the talented folks over at Simon Says Stamp and one of the products in the new release is the World of Love Sentiments stamp set. Love this one, both the image and the sentiments.

Similar to yesterday's card, I let the inks do the work for me. Kept this design even simpler, aiming for the feel of a heart balloon on a string. I think it makes for the perfect Valentine.

 SSS World of Love Sentiments stamp

 Altenew Red Sunset inks

Simple if you use a stamp positioner. Ink the stamp with the lightest pink on the bottom and darkest red up top. Stamp. Repeat with the middle tones and stamp. Add another layer of ink as needed. Curve the sentiment to mimic a balloon string and voila!

Check out all the makes with the products from the Love You release in the gallery here. 

I'm adding my card to:

AAA Cards Challenge - Made in Minutes

simon says stamp - detail bohemian plate

It's DIECEMBER, folks, and the talented folks over at Simon Says Stamp have a slew of new dies out to make paper crafting even more fun. I still laugh when I think back to my early days of cardmaking and thinking I could fussy cut whatever I needed and save the investment in a die cutting machine. HA!

One of the products in the new release is the Detail Bohemian Plate and I got to have a play with it. I love the subtle interest these detail plates create for a background.

 SSS Detail Bohemian Plate die

 SSS Poinsettia Parade die

 SSS Wreath Tag die (on sale!)
Altenew ink

Check out all the makes with the products from Diecember in the gallery here. And check out the hops going on today too.

I'm adding my card to:

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Dies R Us -  Christmas

Divas that Die Cut - Anything Goes

CAS cards challenge december

Hello there friends! Looooong time, no see.

Hope you and yours are staying healthy and happy. You may have noticed I went missing for a while, I was in the US with my Dad who unfortunately passed away in July. At the ripe old age of 93. I'm sure going to miss him, but as he said "if this is the end of the road, it's been a good ride." It was. We were blessed.

I know tons has been happening over at STAMPlorations (and Blogger!) and I missed it all. I'm hoping to ease back into things starting with the December CAS card challenge.

Here's the December CAS Cards challenge inspiration.

As always the challenge is any CAS card, with an optional color twist - this month is red/brown.

I happen to love the natural look of red and brown at Christmas. I kinda followed the rules with my card ;)...

Christmas Icons - Angel die
Three Kings stamp

Winter Mug stamp
Altenew inks, patterned paper

Pretty simple. Stamp random BG. Die cut angel from PP and cardstock and glue together to make your own chipboard. Heat emboss sentiment. Done.

CAS card tip: Add punch to your CAS design by adding one element of your card with dimensional adhesive.

For more inspiration with this die check out this post.

It's nice to be back. I'm looking forward to perusing blogland and your CAS card creations this month! Your project might be chosen as one of the prize winners. 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 doing some Christmas shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over. See you in the gallery. 

cas cards challenge june reminder

Hello there peeps! It's time to remind you to play along with us at STAMPlorations CAS card challenge for June if you haven't yet.

Here's the June CAS Cards challenge inspiration.

As always the challenge is anything CAS goes with an optional color twist - this month is purple.

I personally love to create with purple. How about with four purples????

Wooded stamp
Sweet Kindness stamp
Altenew inks

So easy, folks. Grab a solid stamp. (or the reverse of a nearly solid stamp like this wood slice stamp) Stamp four of 'em. Stamp and fussy cut a B/W image and adhere it over your stamped "mat".

CAS card tip: After you've stamped, spritz the solid stamped areas 2-3 with a mini mister (from a distance) to soften the ink impressions a little bit.

For more inspiration with this stamp check out this post.

Have you played with us? 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.

cas cards challenge june

Hello there peeps! Hey, wasn't it just May?

Hope you and yours are staying healthy and happy. I’m actually going to be taking a little break the next couple months cuz I’m in the US with my Dad who’s having some health problems. But it's time for a new CAS card challenge at STAMPlorations and I do have a card to share. 

Here's the June CAS Cards challenge inspiration.

As always the challenge is anything CAS goes with an optional color twist - this month is purple.

I know a lot of people have a problem with purple. I happen to love it. Paired with red and fuchsia. Or yellow. Or even green. Anyhoo. Here's my first CAS card for this month using purple.

Clouds stencil
5 Coffee Phrase die
Sweet Kindness stamp
Altenew inks

I knew I wanted to put that adorable little mug from the newly released Sweet Kindness set to use. So I decided to stamp a playful border and top it with a die cut sentiment. I liked the layout of this one from the set of five dies, so I cut and stacked it three times and then used 3 shades of purple ink to color the words. I decided a touch of yellow in the form of a sun was fitting for the sentiment.

CAS card tip: Add punch to your CAS design by using a multi-colored die cut sentiment.

For more inspiration with this stamp 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.

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.

guest designing at time out #156

Posting today as a guest designer to join the talented ladies over at Time Out for this fortnight's challenge. It's a photo challenge. I always love the photos Sandie picks. Don't you just want to eat these yummy colors?

I just love how that fresh yellow pops off the aqua, especially with those touches of white. (BTW, you can see a larger version of the photo over at Time Out.)

Well, since the challenge is being sponsored by Altenew, I headed to my stash and had a looksee. I also headed to my stash of backgrounds looking for something nice and aqua and amazingly enough I found what I needed!

Altenew Persian Motifs stamp and die

Altenew German Label Love stamp

In the inspiration photo, that painted yellow piece really popped out at me. I knew I wanted to place a yellow die cut "something" on an aqua background. Well I had my background, a piece made by cleaning up some metallic gelato-y messes awhile back. Perusing my Altenew dies, I chose Persian Motifs, cut it from lemon yellow and heat embossed the outline in white on it.

Then in a nod to the pile of books in the photo I inked up my Label Love sentiment with four blocks of color. I tore the edges of the background and adhered it. Stitched my sentiment down and adhered the yellow motif with foam adhesive. A few shiny sequins finished my card. Wish you could see the metallic sheen of the aqua BG, it really makes the card.

I'm looking foward to seeing your entries in the gallery, and how you choose to interpret the photo.

Many thanks to Sandie and the design team for having me. It's such fun to be part of the inspiration post for this month's photo challenge. I'll be back with a second make later...

I'm joining the Anything Goes fun at SSS Wednesday Challenge as well as the Hearts and Flowers Challenge over at Die Cut Divas.

fun with funky fossil designs scandi home

Happy Tuesday! I had more fun yesterday with some new stamps from Funky Fossil Designs (I won a GC at Time Out and of course I had to pick up a few things while I was at the store ;).

My first play was with the Quirky Owls. Check them out here. I also picked up Adventure. Check those cards out here.

For today's cards I was playing with such a fun set - Scandi Home. You had me at Scandi. This first one just had to happen. IMO, nothing says Scandi better than red and white.

Red cardstock. White embossing. A fun rectangle die from Charlie und Paulchen. I put the message on the inside - a red heart and the sentiment "home is where the heart is" which is also from the stamp set.

My second card... well, the coffee and tea pot stamps reminded me of the kitchen art you see. Kind of 50s retro. So I grabbed some Altenew inks, masked the outside edges of the card front and did some stamping. Just mixed and matched the images and colors as I moved my way from bottom to top.

The colors are truer below - yellows and oranges.

Fun, fun, fun. Sarah is having a sale at Funky Fossil. 15% off until midnight tonight. Just sayin!

Thanks for stopping by. I'm stopping by at:
Your Next Stamp - Create your own Background (home my second card counts - yesterday's cards certainly would have counted!)

ATSAM - AG

Color my Heart Color Dare - #381