spring/summer coffee lovers hop

It's that time of year. You know what time. Coffee time.

Today's project is for the Spring Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. STAMPlorations is a super sponsor and in addition to the STAMP prizes being given away on the hop, you could win a prize for leaving a comment over at the STAMP blog today too.

I know the tones of the graphic are kinda muted (more towards the neutrals ruling the world of decor presently) but I had to use some brighter colors for a spring/summer card.

All Blooms stencil
All you need is Coffee stamp

Just Caffeinate stickers

distress inks, vellum, Glossy Accents

Masked off the edges of my cardbase. Inked through the stencil. Added some Perfect Pearls splatters. Fussy cut the stamped coffee cup and mounted it on a circle of printed vellum. Added a sticker sentiment and a shot of shine to the cup with Glossy Accents.

Get hopping! But don't forget to stop by STAMPlorations to leave a comment.

I'm joining the fun at:
Spring Summer Coffee Lovers Hop

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C575 Stencil

Hero Arts Stay Crafty - Bring on Spring

Happy Little Stampers - March Stencil AG

fun with funky fossil quirky owls

Happy Sunday folks! I had some fun yesterday with some new stamps from Funky Fossil Designs (I was a lucky winner 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. They couldn't be more perfectly named.

I also picked up two stencils, 3D Cubes and Retro Starburst. Gave them a try.

First up, Mr Spectacled. Cuz, c'mon, isn't he the greatest? Decided to perch him on a 3D cube.

And Glossy Accent his specs. The sentiment die is STAMPlorations Skinny Sentiments.

So then I grabbed a soon-to-be released STAMPlorations stencil, inked up a cloudy night sky, added some starbursts to it with gold embossing paste and let Mr Bow Tie soar through the night sky.

I cannot get enough of that gold shimmer...

Then I figured I better try to be a bit more girly with the owls and used distress oxides for a background. When I inked through a STAMPlorations Hearts all Over stencil over the inked background, you can barely see the tone-on-tone hearts. Either my BG was too heavily inked. Or maybe it's an oxide thing.

Since the owl and sentiment (5 Love Words) seem to be just floating through that dreamy sky, I opted for a hint of a nest with some black thread. The sentiment continues inside.

Fun, fun, fun. I just noticed Sarah is having a sale at Funky Fossil. 15% off until midnight Feb 17.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm stopping by at:
Creataive Friday - Valentine/Hearts (the hearts are stencilled onto the BG of card #3)
Penny Black and More - Animals, Birds, Butterflies
ATSAM - AG

heute ist dein tag plant lady

Another one of my commissioned cards (love that this gal enjoys giving handmade cards!) I was asked to make cards for various occasions and asked her for little tips to make my creation process easier. Do you do this too?

Next up - a card for Mom. Should have to do with gardening. I knew there was a reason I added Essentials by Ellen Plant Lady to my stash!!! She came out to play.

Added a light dusting of Distress inks to the cardbase to hint at grass and sky and Glossy accents on her boots - cuz why not? A German sentiment from Klartext So Viele Kerzen for her garden sign completed my scene.

No multiples on this one. Copic coloring takes me forever. I used this card by Francine as my guide. And to watermelon the apron was Michele's genius, BTW.

STAMPlorations inspiration #178

It's summer break time over at STAMPlorations through September, but we're popping in today with an inspiration post from the inspiration DT . Hope you're enjoying summer (in this hemisphere).

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. I had such fun with this.

 STAMPlorations Succulently stamp and die

STAMPlorations Hugs die

Studio Calico PP
Copics

I had fun with the images and Copics. There's just something about that vase! And the tiny blossoms - barely noticeable but allowing for a little pop of color.

Even Copic-colored the die cut sentiment. And added a coat of Glossy Accents to that fun vase!

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.

I'm going over to:
Inkspirational - #164

Crafty Hazelnut's PP Challenge - July
Crafty Cardmakers - At least two dies or punches

STAMPlorations Release - Christmas in August Day 1

It's Christmas stamp release time at STAMPlorations! Every day this week, the STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new products. Be sure to hop along!

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the comments on the blogs will win a gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store or one of the new products. And there are prizes on Facebook and Instagram too! You have until the end of the day August 21 to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on August 24.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on the stamp set designed by Becca. 

Here's what I did. I should mention all my creations this week are extreme CAS. Come back by my blog next week to see more creations using these new products. Might help you decide which sets need to go onto your wish list ;)

What better way to get in the Christmas spirit than with Christmas cookies?!? Better yet, ones decorated with pink frosting (translates to Copic colored and topped with Glossy Accents)?!?

Couldn't resist heat embossing my sentiment onto a cookie sheet fussy cut from an old envelope with a metallic liner. I just love how it crinkled a little bit with the heat. Reminds me of well-worn cookie sheets.

I won't keep you any longer. Thanks for stopping by today. You can start the hop here if you'd like.

Mixed Media Card Challenge #23

Ready for a new MMCC? This month's theme is a tricky one, IMO.

Trying to think outside the box, I went with the idea of sunshine reflecting off of glass!

I stamped Deep Red's NYC Times Square onto watercolor paper with Archival ink. Smeared some white acrylic paint onto the areas where I wanted the glare to be - the windshields and some of the buildings. Let it dry then applied some watercolor in backwards ROYGBIV manner. Let the panel dry and then added Glossy Accents over the painted areas which had resisted the watercolor. Ta da! Glare!

To finish off my mixed media card, I stenciled some embossing paste through a stencil (thanks Loll!) and added some checkered cab images (Artemio New York City) in black. My heat embossed sentiment is from STAMPlorations Artful Flutters.

Hope you like my take on "Reflections". Would love to see yours!!!! The gallery is open through May 25th.

I'm hooking up at the Anything Goes challenge over at SSS Wednesday Challenge. See ya there ;)

new. beginnings.

I've a reminder card for you today for The Mixed Media Card Challenge. I've got a wedding card, but I skipped the optional sequins. I've got enough going on on my card without 'em ;)

This card was a result of me and my new Color Bursts trying to get to know each other. I dry embossed watercolor CS, poofed some blue and green CB onto it, spritzed it with water and panicked. But after some tipping, dabbing and patience, I was pretty happy with this cool BG panel. And after sopping up leftover color, got five tags outta the deal too!

Grungy stamped some hearts, die cut a heart from old tulle and added a nest of wispy gold thread. I heat embossed "celebrate" from Winnie and Walter Big and Bold Extras onto a snippet of black CS and die cut "love" from Amy Tangerine from black CS and white fun foam. Adhered them together and topped it with Glossy Accents.

Even adhered the "love" with dimensional adhesive. And cuz it's so yummy, here's another shot of that texture and shine!

I'm really pleased with this result. Just have to get a better relationship going with those poofy Color Bursts. Anyone know of good videos for me to watch?

I'm playing at:
Stamps and Stencils - Oh So Blue
Addicted to Stamps and More #176 - Anything Goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - Something old (tulle), Something new (Color Bursts)
Anything but Cute #9 - Bring in the New (Color Bursts)

Thanks for visiting.