STAMPlorations inspiration #345

Welcome to today's inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. 

Lately I've been making Christmas cards with ephemera pieces. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store. And lots you can do with them. I tend to like CAS designs.

Meet today's card. 

Christmas Ephemera 1

Comfort and Joy stickers

Oh My Stars stencil

 embossing paste, die cut stars

It's CAS that's for sure. The ephemera piece needs something to anchor it so I added some stenciled stars in the corner of my card front and added a couple gold die cut stars too to create a threesome with the ornament. Three is always a good design idea, right? 

A sticker sentiment made this card super quick.

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!        

make valentines with gelli prints

I've got a three-fer fer ya this two-fer weekend.

Huh?

Well, it's Valentine's weekend of course. And in my 'hood it's also Fastnacht weekend - Mardi Gras. Not much going on here compared to normal years, but I'm sure enjoying the live streams some of the different groups are putting on. It's kinda fun to sit on the couch in sweats and sing along with the Fastnacht hits without the costume/makeup/yelling across the table in filled-to-the-brim halls/hangovers stress of a normal Fastnacht! 

Fastnacht in a nutshell if you'd like a little taste...

And the three-fer? I've got three Valentines made using up some gelli prints. Thanks for the challenge, Birte. These were leftover after this cardmaking session. Better to use 'em than stash 'em away again, right?

First up, for DD. Fun fact... DD die cut and embossed that smaller pink heart when she was little. I saved it ;)

Sizzix Heart die

Charlie and Paulchen Hohlsaumrahmen die

This card is going to:

CAS on Friday - Love

Colorhues Challenge - red/pink

TimeOut Challenge - #181

MFT Lots of Heart Outline die

This card is joining the fun at:

Cut it Up - All You Need is Love

Daring Cardmakers - Share the Love

Sizzix Sentiment Words die

STAMPlorations Bubbles and Leaf Prints stencil

And this card goes to:

Happy Little Stampers - Stencil

So. As card front, as die cut shape or just leftover strips as your background... put your gelli prints to good use! And HELAU!!!!

source: Leonivo

journal journey - dylusional

Howdy and happy Monday, peeps! I'm back again with another page of my newly started art journal (check out the link if you want the back story)!!!

As I mentioned in that post, as the creative journey would have it, I opened my prepped "journal" up  at a double orange spread, loving the swirly effect I'd created, and wondering how the heck I'd done it. That sparked an idea for my first page about not remembering how I'd prepped the orange pages!

I was thinking Dylusions cuz I think I'd used the spray ink for the BG. And you might have caught in my social media that I had the honor of shaking Dyan Reaveley's hand last month at Creativeworld in Frankfurt (as in I just walked up to her - she was on her way to grab some lunch - and said "May I shake your hand?" to which she responded "Yes. Why?" to which I responded "Cuz you're my girl crush, I love to watch your videos" at which point we continued to chat about her time at Creativation in Phoenix and her soon-to-be-born grandson...) Still cannot how believe how cool that was!

So... Why not create my second art journal page as an ode to Dyan and a way to remember that encounter?

 Dylusions spray ink

Dylusions Around the Edge stamp

MFT Bold alpha die

The Stamp Market Hexagon Hello stamp

STAMPlorations soon-to-be-released Bloomdala Bliss stamp

STAMPlorations Oh My Stars mini stencil

Studio Calico gold star rub ons

Sharpies

white acrylic paint

white paint pen

Stamped some of Dyan's border stamps. Actually the page had that outline of a heart (with some texture paste waste I suppose?!?) on it already so I made a mask and stamped multiple images from a soon-to-be-released STAMPlorations set into the heart. Used a Sharpie to doodle the "dyan" in the heart and for the journaling and die cuts for the "ode 2". Used gold CS for "ode" to pick up on the texture paste  and then later added some gold star rub ons too.

Though I'd started with the blank orange page, I had to add some Bubblegum Pink down the right side cuz that's my fave Dylusions color. Stamped some white acrylic paint circles. I nearly squealed later when I realized there were 7 and the word "dylusional" which had come into my mind had 7 letters! How perfect!

Upper left I also stenciled some cascading white stars and stamped some black ones.

I chose three sentiments that support my love for Dyan and her free spirit and stamped them in random spots - thank you, welcome the unexpected and the best... good energy is contagious!

I'm gonna say it again, peeps... it is SO MUCH FUN to just go with the flow! Start with an idea, any idea, and then just let it lead you.

Do you have a favorite art journal/mixed media artist? I'd love to hear who.

I'm hooking up at:
More Mixed Media Challenge - AG Feb
STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge - Use a Stencil
We Love 2 Create - AG Mixed Media
Creative Artiste - AG Mixed Media
Craft Stamper - Take it Make it February

25 days of christmas tags 2018 - part 1

Tracey's 25 Tags event came into my reader as I was pondering what to make for neighbor gifts this year... Now I know. And have already made a few sets of tags. Wanna see?

Without further ado, here are my first three.

For Day 2 with Altenew I was inspired by Norine's simple tags in kraft and light blue and made this set. And used up some PP ;)

Can you see the sparkle of the glitter CS and the glitter embossed sentiment? Such fun contrast to the kraft CS.

 

Papertrey Tag Sale #2 die
Paper Smooches Snowflakes die
Altenew Festive Silhouettes stamp

For Day 4 with Reverse Confetti I was inspired by Tracey's little gnome set in a cute scene. I used to be so afraid of little scenes, cuz they require coloring, but I bought myself a couple of "cute" sets with dies and am slowly expanding my horizons ;) This set is for the family DD babysits for. And did I mention how great it is to use up some of my PP stash!

Reverse Confetti Gift Card Holder Tag die

Poppystamps You Melt My Heart stamp and die

Poppystamps Christmas Delights stamp and die

Klartext Frohe Weihnachten stamp

circle punch

Copics

For Day 5 with Newton's Nook, I loved the ornament shaker tags by Jennifer. When I thought about making ornament tags that could also be hung on a tree, I decided they needed to have lots of shiny gold. So I pulled out a PP pack with lotsa gold (did I mention how great it is to use up stash?!?) and these happened. Quite an exercise in engineering... how to include that dangling star embellishment between all the layers but in front of the acetate ...

 Spellbinders 2010 Heirloom Ornament die

Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornament die

Create a Smile Schone Bescherung stamp

craft foam

sequins

And these additional tags happened with the leftovers from the shakers!

Charlie und Paulchen Frohe Weihnachten die

Tim Holtz Holiday Script Words die

I'll be back with three more tomorrow. So happy Tracey's challenge spurred me to create my neighbor gifts for Christmas in November! Thanks Tracey!

I'm also joining in at:

Addicted to Stamps - AG with option ribbon (#2)

Stamping Sensations - Get Ready for Christmas (#2)

The Paper Girls - Wanna build a Snowman? (#2)

Crafty Hazelnut - Christmas (#2 no buttons but bells!)

Crafty Hazelnut PP Challenge - November (#1, #2, #3)
SSS Wednesday - All that glitters is Gold (#3)

STAMPlorations inspiration #182

Back with another inspiration post from the inspiration DT. We've got something a little different for you today. The Inspiration DT is trying their hand at Artist Trading Coins. In case you haven't run into these yet, here's a great video from the gal who came up with the idea.

Since this trendy form of Artist Trading Card also tends to go down the mixed media/artsy fartsy path, I decided to work with two artsy sets - the older Life in Full Color and the newest Art Expressions.

The deets, briefly. 2 1/2" in diameter. Two layers of cardboard with a PP piece on the reverse and a collaged piece on the front. You can personalize the reverse if you're trading them.

Great thing about these puppies, you can use up your scraps. I used an acrylic paint gelli print for my BG to collage on. Added some black and white splatters to it. Stamped. Added washi. Added die cuts. Added some pops of color with a red Sharpie. Fun, fun, fun. TIP: Prep your coin. Create your collage on the BG and as the last step, die cut the finished circle from the BG and adhere it to the coin (I used a glue stick). Much easier than working directly on the round coin.

Here are the coins individually.

 Art Expression

"c" from Fantastic word die

StazOn inks

washi

Life in Full Color

Art Expression

Bubble stencil

snippets

Life in Full Color
Art Expression
Fantastic word die

Art Expression
Scribbly Splattery Grunge
Incredible word die

Whaddyathink? Have you made these? Might you?

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 going over to:
Creative Artiste - #41
Stamps and Stencils - Industrial Grungy
MFT Color Challenge - #99

spotlight on adding interest to a simple succulent card

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog with a tutorial for this card today. Hope you're having a "fancactus" day"...

simon says stamp classic bicycle - rainbow

I hope by now you've checked out the Simon Says Stamp Good Vibes release. I've got two more cards made with one of the fun dies from this release - Classic Bicycle.

Can you say ROYGBIV?

 Simon Says Stamp Classic Bicycle die

Savvy Stamps Flowers 1 die

Sizzix Nested Squares die

Neat and Tangled On the Strip 2 stamp

Hero Arts Enjoy Fruit stamp

distress inks

I'd wanted to use just a portion of the bike and had the idea of looking out a window at it. But that detoured into this more artistic version. Whatever. Pretty basic. Cut a mask. Stamped the stripes. Spritzed with perfect pearls/water mix. Adhered the die cuts. Adhered the frame. 

For the second card I die cut the bike from Neenah CS and Copic colored it with a rainbow. Easy peasy. I put this bike on a 4" circle card. Fits into a regular envelope.

Simon Says Stamp Classic Bicycle die

Simon Says Stamp Tilted Banners stamp

Copics (13 colors!)

washi

white embossing powder

That's all for now folks. Have you checked out the Simon Says Stamp blog for the entire release and hop yet? Thanks for coming by my blog today.

I'm taking these over to:
SSS Wednesday challenge - Bright and Cheerful
Fusion - Primary Bookcase

Just Add Ink - Window or Frame

Happy Little Stampers - June AG with Dies

everything's coming up CAS and rainbows

Having some fun for a couple challenges. How could I not participate when the themes are:
AAA Card Challenge - Geometrics

 Addicted to CAS - Rainbow

Here's what I made.

Aha Arts Geometric Borders stamp

Paper Smooches Quote Tag die

Altenew inks

Had this die cut square (geometric) laying around. So I pulled out some geometric stamps and rainbowed them with eight Altenew ink colors in rainbow fashion. Added a Paper Smooches sentiment in bold black. CAS pure.

And then flipping through my Paper Smooches dies looking for that "hello" above, I ran across this cutie that may well be NBUS. Not any more. 13 Copic markers later this rainbowed die cut was adhered to a 4" circle (geometric) card. Fits perfectly into a normal envie. Voila!

 Paper Smooches Cute Cluster die

STAMPlorations Trendy Spring Blooms stamp

Copics

I'm joining these challenges too:

Pinspirational - #217 (card #1)

 CAS Colors and Sketches - #276 (card #1)

spellbinders dainty florals set of tags

Did you see yesterday's post? Well I mentioned having a hard time figuring out what to use as the focal image on the BG I'd created. I wanted to use neon. So I die cut lots of neon. But then didn't use them. So this tag set was born.

Spellbinders Labels Four die

Spellbinders Dainty Florals Etched die
Inkystamp Geburtstagsgruße stamp
Inkystamp Alltagsheldin stamp
Inkystamp Alles im Rahmen stamp
Sizzix Damask embossing folder
Craft Concepts Bees Delight embossing folder
white embossing powder
twine

Had the flowers cut from four neon colors so I mixed and matched the outlines and filler pieces. Adhered them to black tags I'd die cut and dry embossed. Then I heat embossed sentiments onto black snippets and added those to the tags. Twine finished them off. I think these will look great on B/W wrapping paper.

Thanks again to Team Spellbinders for the fun little florals to create with. I'm taking them over to:

Pinspirational - Anything Goes for their 6th Anniversary!
Kreativtanten - Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers - Anything goes with Dies for April

spellbinders dainty florals a la marimekko

Catching a folk art vibe from Spellbinders Dainty Florals Etched die, I went a little Marimekko for this card design.

Spellbinders Dainty Florals Etched die

Inkystamp Alles im Rahmen stamp
heart die
twine

Die cut 20 (yep, 20) of the white stems and adhered them to black CS in a folk artsy pattern. Then I had the darndest time figuring out what to do with it! As usual, I couldn't cover up what I'd just created.

Now neon colors are far from folk artsy, but I felt I needed them to go with this B/W design. So I die cut a few of the sweet florals and adhered them to a die cut heart which holds my sentiment. Since the heart is popped up the florals are also raised off the card a bit so they don't get too lost on the busy BG. Cuz like I said, I couldn't bear to cover any more of it up ;)

A bit of twine across the top fold finished it off. Hope you likey. Thanks again to Team Spellbinders for the fun little florals to create with. I'm taking them over to:

Pinspirational - Anything Goes for their 6th Anniversary!
Kreativtanten - Anything Goes
a2z Scrapbooking - Flower Power

Happy Little Stampers - Anything goes with Dies for April