STAMPlorations anything goes may reminder

Joining in on the fun over at STAMPlorations monthly Anything Goes challenge over at the STAMPlorations blog? There's still time.

Anything goes. I went coffee and snark.

Retro Femme ATC

Coffee Happy stamp

Hot Mess stamp

I chose this beauty with an attitude and paired a coffee theme with her. The touch of red outlining the ATC really shows off her lipstick. And don't you love the snarky sentiment?

Check out the card creations this month! There will be prizes ;) a $25 prize code for a chosen card using STAMP products and two $10 prize codes chosen randomly from the entries (need not feature a STAMP product.) Please be sure to read all the challenge rules here.

Don't forget about my STAMPlorations discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off should I ever inspire you to do some shopping ;)  See you over at the gallery. 

introducing STAMPlorations new spring ATCs

Are you a fan of the ATCs in the STAMPlorations shop? There are a few new spring-themed products (think floral, coffee, sweet little houses and some boss women!) and I've got a couple projects to share with you.

Let's start with the boss women, shall we? I loved this 70s looking leading lady, so paired her with some groovy stamps in the supporting role. I stamped with orange, yellow and brown inks of course ;)

Retro Femme ATC

Groovy Shoes stamp

For my next card the butterfly from the Color me Spring pack immediately spoke to me so I paired it with some watercolor PP and die cut Flutterby. The die cuts are nice and sparkly thanks to Wink of Stella but you can't see it in the photo. I distressed the edges of the ATC and PP on my card front. Seems like ages since I've done that!

Color me Spring ATC

Flutter Zen 1 die

World Birthday Cakes stamp

My last project today features an adorable birdhouse ATC and it immediately reminded me of one of Shery's older stamp sets so I paired the two. I also added some wispy leaves to the background and some washi.

Color me Spring ATC

Crazy Stitched Rectangle die

Country Rustic stamp

Life is Sweeter stamp

Be sure to stop by the STAMPlorations blog regularly to see what the other DT girls are making with the new ATCs as well as the recently released collage papers. Should you find yourself making a purchase from the STAMPlorations store, you can use my code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off. Have a lovely day.

introducing collage papers - collage

Did you catch my last blog post? There's a new kid in town over at the STAMPlorations shop - collage papers. Basically, it's a nice quality 70# patterned paper and who doesn't love patterned paper?  It also might stretch your creative muscles ;)

There's an amazing pre-order deal being offered right now so please go check it out. But then come back to see my makes using Analog Grunge, one of the new papers!

To stretch my creative muscles I decided to actually make a collage. I found so much inspiration from Rebecca C. in this video.

Um, might it really have been 2019 when I last touched this art journal? Shame on me.  Anyhoo, I settled on this already-prepared two-page spread of khaki and beige tones.

And then I made some marks on my collage paper (the one with the coffee stains).

And pulled out an old gelli print and some old book pages. And then four hours later this collage spread in my art journal was complete!

I cut circles and glued them and some of their negatives down. Added some torn paper strips. Fussy cut some camera and clock images from the collage paper and added them like ephemera. I stamped with black ink and then white paint. I made marks with a toilet paper roll. I adhered some sticker negatives. And washi tape. And then my focal point, made with die cut alphas. 

I splattered too. With the leftover white and black acrylic paints. And metallic orange watercolor - can you see those shimmery blobs of goodness?

Analog Grunge collage paper

Art Marks 3 stamp

alphabet die

acrylic paint, washi tape

SUCH fun!!!!!

For my next project I remembered an idea from Nadine M. for a Christmas card and applied it to a masculine birthday card. This is a great way to use up other PP scraps at the same time. Just look for some that complement each other.

Analog Grunge collage paper

Skinny Sentiments die

So if the pattern on these collage papers speaks to you, in addition to using them as an easy card front or background for a stamped/die cut image, you can make them work for you in other ways as well. I'll be back with more ideas soon.

Be sure to stop by the STAMPlorations blog regularly to see what the other DT girls are making with the new collage papers - in addition to grungy there are botanical, coffee, travel, and bold texture themed papers.

And should you find yourself making a purchase from the STAMPlorations store, you can use my code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off. Have a fabulous day. 

introducing collage papers - analog grunge cards

There's another new kid in town over at the STAMPlorations shop and if you're a CAS cardmaker, you might be wondering if it's for you. Basically, it's patterned paper and who doesn't love patterned paper?  It also might stretch your creative muscles ;)

There's an amazing pre-order deal being offered right now so please go check it out. But then come back to see my makes using one batch, Analog Grunge, of the new papers!

My first love being cardmaking, I had to consider how to use this great paper (it's 70# quality). Some of the images lend themselves nicely to being fussy cut and used like ephemera. But I was feeling "torn into strips," especially because the motif is grungy.

So I considered which larger size die I could use as focal image on my card and settled on a bird. So I stamped some feathers and art marks on the collage paper before tearing it into strips and glueing the strips onto some scrap cardstock. 

Then I die cut the bird, backed it with a black shadow and decided to place it atop what was actually leftover after diecutting the bird from the scrap I had glued the strips onto. Kind of a hot mess but I think it works. Especially as a masculine belated birthday card.

Analog Grunge collage paper

Feathery stamp

Perched bird die

Double running stitch rectangle die

For my next card I contemplated what else to do with torn strips and remembered this fun card I'd made years ago. I thought Shirley's City Girl would work well with a nice taffeta skirt. I alternated torn book pages stamped with polka dots in between the collage paper strips. Did some coloring to make her top match her skirt. Cuz stylish ;)

Analog Grunge collage paper

City Girl stamp

So if the pattern on these collage papers speaks to you, in addition to using them as an easy card front or background for a stamped/die cut image, you can make them work for you in other ways as well. I'll be back with more ideas soon.

Be sure to stop by the STAMPlorations blog regularly to see what the other DT girls are making with the new collage papers - in addition to grungy there are botanical, coffee, travel, and bold texture themed papers.

And should you find yourself making a purchase from the STAMPlorations store, you can use my code STAMPGIRLMARIA for 20% off. Have a fabulous day.

STAMPlorations cas cards challenge april

Welcome to the April STAMPlorations CAS Cards challenge and that ain't no joke ;)

As always the challenge is to create any CAS card but we always give you an optional color twist. This month's colors are blue and purple.

Must have been the flowers in the inspo that took me down a sympathy card route. And it seems I'm always needing them :(

Blossom Overture stamp

Tag 1 nesting die

gold embossing powder

Got those perfect little rectangles cut from stash backgrounds using the tiniest tag die. Gold embossed and fussy cut the rose and mounted it over the tags. Voila!

CAS card tip: I ignored the sweet spot rule here but I think putting all the design items in the middle third of the card works too .

I'm looking forward to 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 I ever inspire you to do some shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over today. See you over at the gallery.  

spotlight on scrap strips

 Howdy friends. I'm over at STAMPlorations hoping to inspire you to give your scrap strip stash a go.

STAMPlorations inspiration #353

Welcome to another Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. I'm continuing on my mission to use created backgrounds.

Fluttery die

Fluttery stamp

Art Marks 2 stamp

Used coordinating stamp and die to create this card. Stamped the images on backgrounds and then die cut them. Very subtle way to add interest without grabbing the markers to color. 

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, if you use my STAMPGIRLMARIA discount code you receive an additional 20% off your order.  Appreciate your visit. CU in February!

STAMPlorations cas cards challenge january

Happy New Year 2022!!!

And welcome to the STAMPlorations January CAS Cards challenge!

As always the challenge is to create any CAS card, with an optional color twist. What better to start off this new year than with this month's optional twist which is "rainbow."

When I thought rainbow I thought rainbow bridge so I decided to replenish my stock of doggie sympathy cards...

Mini Art Marks 1 stamp

Blossom Overture stamp

Concord and 9 ink 

The sentiment continues onto the inside with "sorry for your loss."

CAS card tip: Use multiple colors (in this case "rainbow") with only one image.

I'm looking forward to 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 I ever inspire you to do some shopping ;)  Thanks for stopping over today. See you in the gallery. 

 

STAMPlorations inspiration #348

Ready 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 today's card.

Christmas Backgrounds ATC 1

Reindeer die

Festive stamp

 Simply Graphic frame dies, watercolors

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

Since Santa was so colorful I decided to give him a couple colorful friends. I die cut the reindeer and added splotches of watercolor to them. I opted to give Santa a couple skinny black frames, so gave the reindeer a black shadow and used the playful "Merry" outline from that wonderful stamp set for my sentiment. "Christmas" is stamped on the inside of the card.

Again, not a very traditional creation, 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!

STAMPlorations inspiration #344

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

Lately I'm making Christmas cards with ephemera pieces. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store.

Meet today's card. 

Christmas Ephemera 1

Festive stamp

Merry Go Round stencil

 embossing paste, glitter, washi

This card was not necessarily quick and easy, but I love the design elements. That VW bus is just the cutest darn thing. Picking up on the light green color I randomly stamped my background. Picking up on the hood ornament I chose my stencil. Masked off all but two of the "candies" and applied embossing paste, sprinkling glitter on them while they were still wet. A little strip of washi along the bottom upped the fun factor don't ya think?

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 #342

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

As we head towards Christmas, I'm making Christmas cards with ephemera pieces. I'm using the Christmas in the Air Kit #1 but any holiday ephemera will do. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store.

Here's today's card. 

Christmas Ephemera 1

Merry Everything stickers

 washi

This was quick and easy but only cuz my craft room is so messy! That green die cut scrap was staring me in the face and I thought "ephemera piece needs a backdrop". Ta da. A pine forest it became ;) Cutting the Christmas tree is one of my favorite Christmas memories. Do you cut a real tree? We still do.

Added the sticker sentiment to red cardstock and a couple little washi strips. I chose kraft to continue the woodsy feel.

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 #341

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

As we head towards Christmas, I'm going to take a look at making Christmas cards with ephemera pieces. I recently got the Christmas in the Air Kit #1 (which is sold out at the moment) but any holiday ephemera will do. There are lots of ephemera options in the STAMP store.

Meet today's card.

Christmas Ephemera 1

Festive stamp

Christmas Joy stamp

 silver embossing powder, pom pom

Another pretty quick CAS. I chose a large piece of whimsical ephemera which could "stand on its own," stamped a background for him with sentiments and added a heat embossed sentiment too. A fun pom pom added to the whimsical factor.

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!     

spotlight on spotlight technique

I'm over at STAMPlorations with a tutorial for this card. I used the spotlight technique on an ATC from the Paper Goods section of the shop. Check it out here.

STAMPlorations inspiration #333

Hello there September! Hope you're all well. It's time for another Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. 

 

Today's card is a fun CAS one.

Art Marks 2 stamp

World Birthday Cakes stamp

 Zig markers

Sometimes ya gotta take a closer look at the images in a stamp set, right? I love the art marks series and decided to give that little rainbowish mark center stage as a rainbow in all its glory! I used my Misti and markers to color the individual arcs. Stamped once with color, spritzed the stamp and stamped again. I like this trick to soften up the image a little. Repeated for each color.

I added a birthday sentiment and adhered the little rectangle to a random stamped cardbase.

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.    

STAMPlorations inspiration #332

Back with one more summer Tuesday inspiration post from the STAMPlorations inspiration team girls. Adios August! 

 

Today's card uses the inlaid die cut technique on a heat embossed panel.

Art Marks 2 stamp

Perched Bird die

Hello die

 Forest Moss, Peacock Feathers, Fossilized Amber distress inks

green embossing powder

First I randomly stamped a panel with art marks and green heat embossed them. Then I die cut the bird from the panel, inked him and inlaid him back into the panel on my cardbase. A die cut "hello" finished off my card. Do you like the result? Or do those heat embossed images on the bird bother you like they do me?

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.   

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. 

STAMPlorations inspiration #329

Time for 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. I like that the words/messages on these tiles work for multiple occasions. I've die cut one of the tiles for this CAS all encouragement card.

What's Up Ephemera

So Loved stamp

Gift Builder 2 die

Design Blox 7 stencil

I die cut the tile and created my present. I stamped the sentiment through the circle portion of the stencil onto my cardbase. Then I adhered the present and some washi strips.

Thanks for visiting. Hope your summer is going well. 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.     

STAMPlorations inspiration #324

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

Another colored digi coffee cup today. Let me tell you, these coffee cups are such fun to color!

Bloomdala Coffee Cup to Go digi stamp

Coffee and Mondays stamp

alcohol markers, patterned paper, washi, embossing powder

I colored and fussy cut the image. Heat embossed the fun sentiment (all three in the set fit perfectly on a die cut circle) and then added some PP from my stash and a strip of washi before adding the cup.

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.