TP roll hearts galore

Hi there peeps! 

I was very inspired by a card Tiffany S. made recently and it actually moved me to hit my craft room and play.

Just grab some inks or watercolors, some water and a TP roll! First blue like Tiffany's, then neon rainbow.

The Stamp Market heart and hey dies, Tim Holtz words, SSS love phrases and you die,

mirror cardstock, embossing powder, Rico neon watercolors,

Provo Crafts thanks die, washi

That's it. Thanks for looking.   

forgotten but not gone (4)

I've been sharing cards this month that seem to have been forgotten in my photo file. Oops.

Today I'm sharing two Autumn-y creations in case you're in the mood...

First a wine-themed birthday card. It's harvest time ya know? Gave the wine a Merlot-y inked tone and added a mist of perfect pearls for fun. See the sparkle in the closeup?

Spellbinders Wine Country die

Klartext sentiment stamp

And then lovely falling leaves (a bit early I know). I love to make these pocket shakers (idea from Kristina W.) using recycled cellophane packaging. First stamp (and heat emboss) your images on vellum.

Add your fillers and stitch up the pocket. See how I added a sentiment?

You've got yourself an attractive, interactive card.

STAMPlorations stamps

vellum, embossing powder, sequins, sewing machine

Enjoy your weekend!

  

another spotlight on scrap strips

I'm doing more stripping - over at the STAMPlorations blog in my spotlight tutorial. This is the card I made. 

STAMPlorations new release - some snark

Welcome peeps! There's a new release in town. Over at the STAMPlorations shop. And with a new line of snarky stamps from our own Chris Dring. Today we're introducing Some Snark (the set on the right).

I've paired Chris' snarky sentiments with some of STAMPlorations paper goods (ATC). The vibe couldn't be more perfect.

Some Snark stamp

Retro Fashionistas ATC

watercolors, Copic markers, white embossing powder, pearls

Actually have a friend who loves to "moon" people, so this card's headed her way :)

For my next card I recycled plastic packaging to make a fun shaker. Put an inked BG in it along with several heat embossed snarky sentiments cuz they're just all so good (and lots of sequins). I attached the shaker to a cardbase and adhered a B/W ATC to the front with my main sentiment.

Some Snark stamp

Retro Fashionistas ATC

Strung Lights stencil

Distress Inks, recycled packaging, sequins, white embossing powder

That's it for today. Be sure to 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 Chris' new stamp sets.

Thanks for stopping by.  

spotlight on recycling christmas cards

Howdy folks! In my first spotlight tutorial of the year over at STAMPlorations I've recycled some Christmas cards to start my stash of cards for next Christmas. Here's one example. Check out the others over in the spotlight project post.

STAMPlorations inspiration #308

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

I'm concentrating on shaker cards this month. Are you already a fan? If not, perhaps I can inspire you to try one of the versions I've done this month: a see-through-to-the inside shaker using recycled cellophane packaging or a tulle shaker or a waterfall-ish card with a shaker element (perfect for a crafty friend).

Today I have my last shaker card for you. It's a full card shaker, recycling cellophane packaging which we all have tons of, right?

 Groovy Shoes stamp

Leaf Prints stencil

For the Birds die

white embossing powder, Gelli print, sequins, sewing machine

I like this kind of card. It's different. It doesn't have a fold (I adhere a piece of white CS on the reverse so I can write my message), but there's a definite fun factor to it.

I took a Gelli print from my stash and adhered it to a piece of CS. I traced some leaves onto it with a stencil, added sequins and a die cut birdie, then put it all in cellophane packaging and stitched up the sides and top. Stapled a heat embossed sentiment to it and voila! I've done a belly band as a way to attach the sentiment before too.

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 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 - at no extra cost to you, just with perks for me ;)

Thanks for visiting. I'm visiting Seize the Birthday with this birthday shaker card.

spotlight on recycling old christmas cards

I'm over at STAMPlorations with a tutorial for environmentally friendly and quick and easy gift tags.

STAMPlorations inspiration #174

It's time for another Tuesday inspiration post from the DT at STAMPlorations where this month we're celebrating Spring with a "Things with Wings" theme. We'd love for you to join us. There are prizes to be won!

I was cleaning up scraps a bit ago, including a paper towel I'd used when playing with watercolors, and I decided to make a feather card with it.

STAMPlorations Feathery stamp and die

STAMPlorations Awesome word die

STAMPlorations Numbers plate die

white embossing powder

silver thread

I crafted my sentiment with a couple other die cuts that were laying around and added a touch of silver metallic thread around one of the feathers for a wispy touch.

Make a wing-themed project and link it up at the STAMPlorations Blog Hop Linky Party for your chance at a GC. Throughout the month, all winged-themed products are 15% off -- no coupon needed. With my STAMPGIRLMARIA code you get 20% off on top.

Joining these challemges today:
Pixie's Snippets Playground - #326
The Cat's Pajamas - Diecutting
Happy Little Stampers - May AG with Dies

trying to be escher-esque

Another pre-vacation creation for you today. This was to test drive a new die. And give Escher-esque a try. I love optical illusions, don't you?

Sizzix Diamond Cluster die

Amy Tangerine Associate die

recycled envelope liner

Know how in her blog posts Joan B. says "mood when finished..." Well on this baby I'd have to say "mood when creating: experiment friendly", "mood when finished: what the heck did I think I was doing?".

If I recall correctly, it all started with a green watercolored piece from this project. Then I sorted through my watercolored background stash for a contrasting piece. Now I know that solid color CS would have had a much better effect ;)

On these illusion thingies, the eye will go to the darkest first - thus you see the leaf green and recognize those as the tops of the stacked squares. And I wanted the two left rows of cubes to appear to be "facing right" - in other words I used the purple pieces to fill the right sides of the cubes since that was the next darkest color I had. Then I used the orange/reddish pieces to fill the left sides of the remaining rows of cubes. But the gradient nature of the non-green watercolored piece made this difficult to achieve! If you want to see what originally inspired me, check this out.

Since things were already pretty outta control, I went with some funky envelope liner for the background and then a plain white die cut sentiment. No idea who I'll ever send this to!!!!!

Thanks for looking though. You're a real trooper ;) I'm actually going to take this over to:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Texture
Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes

winnie and walter 4th birthday - waterfall shaker

Missed the fun last year but I'm excited to have time to celebrate with Winnie and Walter this year for their 4th Birthday Bash! Congrats ladies!

Today's card was inspired by Lea's Love Shaker Challenge. And by this card. Scroll down to see the whole card/message...

 Winnie Walter Spotty stamp
 Winnie Walter My Precious stamp
 Winnie Walter Big Bold and Friends stamp
 Winnie Walter Sugar Rush stamp
 Winnie Walter Comfort and Joy stamp

Winnie Walter Hugs die
Winnie Walter Banner die
Winnie Walter Kisses die
Winnie Walter Flawless Heart die

Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick ink
washi

recycled packaging
sewing machine
sequins

Whew! Quite the supply list, but such fun to create. I really like this take on a shaker, don't you? Another form of  "interactive". And the cohesiveness - papers from the same pack (Aldi special) and products from one company.

Again, thanks to Winnie and Walter for their great products and great challenges! I'll be back with more...

I'm taking this over to:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday's -  Anything Goes
Die Cut Divas - Love
Cuttlebug Mania - Happy Birthday
Craft Stamper - Take it Make it February
Allsorts - Spots and Stripes
CASual Fridays - Hearts

papertrey make it monday

Playing along at the Papertrey Make it Monday where Stephanie created a lovely card using different types of recycled papers. Well I can do that. I could do that for the next million cards probably...

Here's her card.

Here's mine.

PTI Butterfly cover plate die

PTI happy die

PTI Fillable Frames 10 die

STAMPlorations Notebook Edge die

I should definitely get the prize for using up the most S**T from my workspace for this one! All I actually "did" for this, besides glueing, is die cut the notebook edge, the butterflies from a dictionary page and the mat for my sentiment.

The other "stuff" included my trimmed down stamping off scrap paper (recognize the pink snowballs and black scribble circles?), a PC-generated sentiment I've had in my drawer for years, a neon "happy" that was rejected in favor of a black one awhile ago and some little butterflies punched from scraps. I've got a whole box of them. Oh, and the mat is actually a piece of cloth I dyed with leftover Easter egg dye.

Are you playing too? I'd love to see what you recycle. Happy weekend!

christmas card set packaging

You may have seen my neighbor gift packaging on IG. This weekend I needed to quickly package a card set for a hostess gift.

Recycled stamp packaging (which I know you've plenty of!), a branch from the yard and some twine. Oh and a sweet die cut to brighten things up.

Fun thing about the cellophane packaging is you can display your favorite creation as part of the whole package. Like this hint-of-a-rudolph card...

I stitched up the sides of the cellophane. Flipped the top edge over and secured it with a strip of washi. Then tied the twine around, catching the branch and die cut in the bow. Voila!

May you be enjoying the pre-Christmas rush. And may Santa be good to you!

Joining the fun at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Stitch it.

spotlight on a pocket shaker with recycled packaging

I'm up on the STAMPlorations blog with a tutorial on how I created this fun pocket shaker using recycled stamp packaging. Check it out!

recycling for a pocket shaker card

I saw a Christmas card over at Kristina W.'s and my recycling-loving creative soul got all excited... What do you think I recycled?

That's recycled stamp set cellophane packaging, my friends! Made my card, a pocket shaker really (who says a card has to have a flap?!?) by filling and stitching one up!

Chose packaging which would fit my envelope. Trimmed a piece of vellum to fit inside it and added sequins and die cut Confetti from Winnie and Walter that was left over from the stencil I made for this card. 

I die cut "happy" from Papertrey from paper that matches the printed vellum. These were from a pad I got at Aldi years ago! Finally found a way to use it up that I actually like! See how cool it looks when the light shines through the pocket?

That white strip with the secondary sentiment from Keep it Simple Belated Birthday is matched by a white strip on the back so I have a place to write a message.

Loving this fun "card", I decided to pair sequins and unicorns. Cuz why not, right? And I remembered this challenge over at Where Creativity Meets C9.

This is also a pocket shaker, but with a piece of PP I stamped on in it rather than a piece of vellum. I incorporated the Concord and 9th colors and played with Unicorn Awesomeness. Added a strip of blue torn CS along the bottom and stamped the sentiment onto an ombred die cut. I stamped white CS with Altenew teals and blues using a stamp from Scribbly Splattery Grunge, spritzed it with lotsa Perfect Pearls and die cut it using STAMPlorations Bloom Happy before stamping the sentiment in navy.

I absolutely love playing with the finished result - all those fabulous sequins, hearts and moons and stars (no clover for you Lucky Charms eaters out there ;)

 Hope you enjoyed these. So easy to make and SUCH FUN to play with ;)

I'm taking both of these birthday cards over to Anything Goes at Seize the Birthday, too. And the first one to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies.

tissue paper on acetate

I never made it to the game, but CAS Mix Up had a fun technique in the July challenge - using tissue paper. In various ways actually.

Now I'm a big one on using up leftovers as you know. I often reach for scrap or toilet or tissue paper to mop up leftover ink when I'm doing a technique. And I really love Loll T.'s idea of adhering it to acetate and die cutting it.

Did you see my Spotlight post over at STAMPlorations two weeks ago - Water Bleaching Distress Oxides? Well I had a blob of leftover ink on my craft mat during my project and tissue paper came to the rescue. This week's Spotlight post - The Joys of Tissue Paper - explained how I made a card with it. And today's post uses up the last bit of the tissue paper/acetate. And watercolored tissue paper!

Whew! Ready?

I attached (with multi medium matte) the last bit of torn tissue paper (mopped up Wilted Violet, Broken China and Iced Spruce Distress Oxides with it) to a card stamped with a freebie from Sweet Stamp Shop. Adhered a frame (Simply Graphic Rectangles) and outline dragonfly (CUTplorations Dragonfly Layering) cut from hammered gold CS. This die is new to me. I love it.

Then I glued on the tissue paper/acetate solid dragonfly. Voila! If you haven't tried this technique yet, trust me you're gonna love it!

See ya next week.

guest designing at the heart desires #10

I had a blast the past couple months, creating entries for the beautiful challenges over at The Heart Desires. This month, for Challenge #10, I get to join the talented gals over there as guest designer. "Be still my heart" I thought when I saw all this lovely map goodness. I can seriously lose myself for hours in maps...

Which immediately brought to mind a card I'd created a long time ago for my hubby. Isn't it cool to personalize a card to include a special spot on this earth? I love this design for wedding or anniversary or plain ol' love cards. I went ultra CAS for today's card which also features a heart die cut from a map.

I die cut the letters using PTI Headline Alpha and adhered them. Die cut the hearts with Amuse Heart Trio die. And added a wooden arrow I painted with gold nail polish. A strip of washi adds a little punch at the bottom, bringing in the black dots of the cities on the map.

Thanks to the THD team for having me and I can't wait to see their projects!

On a personal note - as I write up this post I am waiting to depart for MI. My wonderful Mom is having serious health problems and I don't know what to expect or when I will be returning. So it'll be quiet around here for awhile. FYI. Positive thoughts are appreciated :)

spotlight on a gift bag from recycled paper

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog today with a tutorial for how I put together this gift bag made with recycled brown packing paper. If you're interested, check it out!

love TAGplorations blog hop - day 4

Have you seen the LOVE TAGplorations blog hop at the STAMplorations blog? Today is day 4, but you can catch up on all the fun in this post.

I have a another tag for you. And, like yesterday, a little bit more! I follow Thurston Post on IG and let myself be inspired by Rebecca's work - did you see my post yesterday? Well today I created a masculine gift wrap/gift bag.

The wrap/bag itself is made from recycled heavy paper which is used (rolled up) in the center of gift wrap rolls here in Germany! It's 11 inches in diameter with an opening up top, so this could hold anything from a gift card to a pair of boxers!

Check out the STAMplorations blog next Tuesday for my Spotlight tutorial on making this project. These are the products I used:

Hello You

Luggage Tags

Hello Word

Zen Hearts

Are you enjoying the LOVE tag hop? You can leave comments or make a LOVE tag for  the linky party to have a chance at winning some of these LOVEly new products or a GC. You can link up and leave comments until Valentine's Day! Thanks for hopping.

love TAGplorations blog hop - day 3

Have you been checking out the LOVE TAGplorations blog hop at the STAMplorations blog? Today is day 3, but you can catch up on all the fun in this post.

I have a tag for you. And a little bit more. I follow Thurston Post on IG and let myself be inspired today by Rebecca's work. It's enchanting really. If you've never visited, you must. After you peek at my creation! Here's the tag...

And this is the whole gift bag getup.  Made from recycled heavy paper which is used (rolled up) in the center of gift wrap rolls here in Germany!

It's 8 inches in diameter with an opening up top. I'm planning to use it to gift a set of handmade cards, but you could use it for so many things.

Stop by the STAMplorations blog next Tuesday for my Spotlight tutorial on making this gift bag. These are the products I used:

Pocket Blooms

Luggage Tags

Artsy Tribal Doodles

Zen Hearts

Join us won't you? Link up a LOVE Tag in the linky party. And leave comments to win a GC or some of these LOVEly new products. You can link up and leave comments until Valentine's Day! Thanks for hopping.

I'm joining these fun challenges:

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Sweet Inspiration

Stempelkueche - Von Herzen

Artistic Stamper - Love Hearts

And on a personal note... 2017 has been quite the downer so far in my world. Won't bore you with the details but among other things my Mom (who is in MI - I am in Germany) is having health issues. Many of you probably know how difficult it is to manage this from afar. The medical personnel are telling me it's a temporary medicine-related thing, but she feels miserable. I was wondering if any of you wonderful cardmaking peeps would care to send her a card to brighten her day? If so, please tell me in the comments and I'll PM you her address :)