Sunday 30 April 2017

Happy Thoughts

Hello Crafty Friends!

Today I am sharing a quick card with you, simply stamped and masked using the Bloom Happy set by STAMPlorations.


You might remember from Tuesday's post that I said I would make a card using the Bloom Happy set as it is on sale until Monday 1st May with a 20% discount over at the STAMPlorations Shop. You could turn this into 40% off by entering my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA. All the other sets designed by Shery are reduced by 10% (30% if you use my code) until Monday. The sale discount is automatically applied at checkout.


Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more Roundup Inspiration.

That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:

Bloom Happy
preview-SheryRussBloomHappy

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Things With Wings 4

Hello Crafty Friends!

The Things With Wings Spring Blog Hop And Linky Party over at STAMPlorations is in full swing. As a little reminder, I made today's card using Spring Flower CUTplorations Layering Dies with a little help from the Trendy Butterflies 2 and a large sentiment which is a sign of things to come.


What do you think of my fourth make for the 25 days of celebrating Spring with all things winged?


So how did I make it? I started off creating my own mask by cutting the solid Spring Flower from a piece of card. I then sponged with Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight inks before randomly stamping the butterflies and smaller sentiments. To finish I added some splatters, the golden filigree Spring Flower, the large sentiment and a few sequins.


Apart from the new range of Layering Dies, STAMPlorations have released some great Spring themed sentiment dies, floral dies and stamps too. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to check them out and, of course, to join the party through commenting and linking up your winged projects. Commenting and linking up is from Wednesday 5th April to Sunday 30th April, 11.55 pm Pacific.

As always there are prizes to be won: 
  • (3) randomly drawn winners from all comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blog will each receive a $10 gift certificate to the store
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Trendy Butterflies 2 + either Flutter Zen 1 or Flutter Zen 2 layering dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Sweet Spring Wishes stamp set + Dragonfly layering dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Trendy Spring Blooms dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Sweet Spring Wishes phrase dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive a $20 gift certificate to the store.
All the links you need to comment and join the party can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog. For more winged inspiration, check out their post here too.
Hop along and have fun!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:
CUTplorations Dies:
Spring Flower
preview-springflowerlayeringdies 
STAMPlorations Stamps:
SheryRuss_TrendyButterflies2-preview

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Tuesday 25 April 2017

Flourishes From The Heart

Hello Crafty Friends!

I got another card for sharing today. It's a postcard I made for a swap at the UK Stampers Forum FB Group. The theme for April is Swirls.

I picked up the Heart Frame Die from The Works a few weeks ago and decided to use it as my center piece on a colourful background with a little stamping using the following sets by STAMPlorations: Distressed Floral SwirlsFloral Bliss and a sentiment from It's All About You

Here it is ...


I'll just let you feast on a few close-ups ...




As it is going in the post as a postcard without envelope, I gave the front of my postcard a generous coat of Mod Podge. It changes the appearance slightly, but kept all of the stamped detail as you can see from the photos below.




I used this card as an inspiration for a video tutorial. It is a little lengthy and takes you through the process of how I made a similar card for my post here.


That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:
STAMPlorations Stamps:
Distressed Floral SwirlsFloral BlissIt's All About You
stmp1005-a.jpeg FloralBliss-preview   stmp1001-a.jpeg

here is what I used in the video in addition to the above stamp sets:
Spring Flower Layering DiesMixed Media Elements Scribbly Splattery Grunge
preview-springflowerlayeringdies SheryRuss_MixedMediaElements SheryRuss_Scribbly Splattery Grunge-preview

*** Discount code works on sale items too

The inks I used are by Stampin'Up!: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry

You Are Amazing!

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. This week my teamies and I are showcasing stamps designed by STAMPlorations owner Shery under her label 'Shery Russ Designs'.

Inspired by a lovely sunny weekend at the caravan, I decided to work with the Distressed Floral Swirls, Floral Bliss, Mixed Media Elements, Scribbly Splattery Grunge, It's All About You stamp sets and the Spring Flower Layering Dies to create this swirly floral postcard.


I basically did some ink blending, stamping and inlaid die-cutting before giving my postcard a generous coat of Mod Podge.

I won't go into more detail right now, just a little close-up of some of the stamped detail.


There is a craft along video on how I made this card. It is a little lengthy, but you can always fast forward. It will show you the slow and a faster way of inlaid die cutting plus my usual ramblings and pearls of crafting wisdom.


As explained in the video, this card was inspired by one I made for an online swap with the theme of swirls. Feel free to leave a comment as I will pick one person at random to receive today's card through the post. The draw will be on Sunday 7th May at 7pm BST.


As mentioned earlier, this week we are showcasing stamps designed by Shery under her label 'Shery Russ Designs'. All her sets will be reduced by 10% apart from the Bloom Happy set which will be 20% off.

I shall try and make a card using the Bloom Happy set for Sunday's inspiration Round-up Post.

Of course Shery will still draw a winner at random from all the comments left on this month's Inspiration Posts over on the STAMPlorations Blog. Pop over to see what my teamies created and to leave a comment for your entry into their prize draw.

That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:
CUTplorations Dies:
Spring Flower Layering Dies
preview-springflowerlayeringdies
STAMPlorations Stamps:
Distressed Floral Swirls, Floral Bliss, Mixed Media Elements Scribbly Splattery Grunge
stmp1005-a.jpeg FloralBliss-preview   SheryRuss_MixedMediaElements SheryRuss_Scribbly Splattery Grunge-preview
It's All About You
stmp1001-a.jpeg

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Sunday 23 April 2017

April Stencil Sunday

Hello, Crafty Friends!

Welcome to another Stencil Sunday in April. May I take the opportunity to remind you of the current Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. As you know Anything Mixed Media Goes as long as it is not a card and you use at least one stencil.

My DT contribution for this Stencil Sunday is ... a 'merci/thanks' ATCs


I decided to work with some new toys and others I hadn't used as yet. I randomly coloured a piece of Mixed Media paper using no 16, 17 and 18 of my new Prima Tropical watercolours. I also added lots of splashes and allowed to dry.
To create my background, I sprinkled Golden sands Infusion Powder through the Emanations stencil, spritzed with water and allowed to dry before clear embossing over the pattern, adding more no 17 watercolour and plenty of outline doodles. I blended with Early Espresso ink and added a coat of gesso.


Next I stamped the solid flower in Crushed Curry on my watercoloured MM paper and die-cut them using the matching flower.I die-cut some leaves, some more flowers from gold mirror card and layered everything up as seen before finishing off with a stamped sentiment, some matching sequins and copper Stickles.


I hope you feel inspired to create something different, maybe even do some up-cycling or re-purposing .... why not link it up with the Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations. The theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes except cards which means projects such as tags, ATCs, canvases, layouts, art journal pages etc,are perfect for entering, and you must have used at least one stencil (any brand) in your project. The challenge will close at the end of the month. You can find the full challenge details plus more Mixed Media inspiration here on the STAMPlorations Blog.


That's it from me for today. I shall be back soon with another project to share.

Have a lovely day!

hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps, stencils and dies:

ARTplorations Stencils: Emanations, this is a new stencil and hasn't quite made it to the shop as yet

STAMPlorations Stamps: 
preview-SheryRuss_TrendySpringBlooms
CUTplorations Dies:
Trendy Spring Blooms Dies
preview-trendyspringbloomsdies
*** Discount code works on sale items too

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Things With Wings 3

Hello Crafty Friends!

The Things With Wings Spring Blog Hop And Linky Party over at STAMPlorations is in full swing. As a little reminder, I made today's card using Dragonfly CUTplorations Layering Dies with a little help from the Winged ThingsArt Marks and Noteworthy 2 stamp sets.


What do you think of my third make for the 25 days of celebrating Spring with all things winged?


Here is How it was made:

  • I masked and sponged a wedge shape
  • stamped the dragonfly using the same ink
  • removed the masks and stamped the border and sentiment
  • die-cut the outline dragonfly from gold mirror card and the solid one from vellum, layered them up and attached them to my card to finish

Apart from the new range of Layering Dies, STAMPlorations have released some great Spring themed sentiment dies, floral dies and stamps too. Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to check them out and, of course, to join the party through commenting and linking up your winged projects. Commenting and linking up is from Wednesday 5th April to Sunday 30th April, 11.55 pm Pacific.

As always there are prizes to be won: 
  • (3) randomly drawn winners from all comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blog will each receive a $10 gift certificate to the store
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Trendy Butterflies 2 + either Flutter Zen 1 or Flutter Zen 2 layering dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive Sweet Spring Wishes stamp set + Dragonfly layering dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Trendy Spring Blooms dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive the Sweet Spring Wishes phrase dies
  • (1) randomly drawn participant in the Things with Wings Spring linky party will receive a $20 gift certificate to the store.
All the links you need to comment and join the party can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog. For more winged inspiration, check out their post here too.
Hop along and have fun!
hugs
Monika xxx

here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:
CUTplorations Dies:
Dragonfly Layering Dies
preview-dragonflylayeringdies-TheBeesKnees
STAMPlorations Stamps:
preview-SheryRuss_ArtMarks1 preview-TheBeesKnees-WingedThings preview-Noteworthy2-SheryRussDesigns

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Tuesday 18 April 2017

Essence Of Life

Hello Crafty Friends!

It's Inspiration Time over at STAMPlorations. This week my teamies and I are showcasing stamps by our very own Deepti under her label 'Dee's Artsy Impressions'.

I decided to work with the Friends And Flowers stamp set to create this one-layer CAS card. Here it is ...


I stamped the umbrella directly on white Centura Pearl card, watercoloured the image using inks, stamped the sentiment and added a couple of embossed lines to the bottom left.

I love how the shimmer of the card stock itself lifts the image.

Here is a closer look ...


As mentioned earlier, this week we are showcasing stamps designed by Deepti under her label 'Dee's Artsy Impressions'. All her sets will be reduced by 10% apart from the Just Because set I used in my card which will be 20% off.

Of course Shery will still draw a winner at random from all the comments left on this month's Inspiration Posts over on the STAMPlorations Blog. Pop over to see what my teamies created and to leave a comment for your entry into their prize draw.

That's it from me for today. Have a lovely week!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount on their stamps ***, stencils and dies:
Friends And Flowers
preview-DAI-FriendsandFlowers

*** Discount code works on sale items too

Saturday 15 April 2017

CUTplorations April Reminder

Hello Crafty Friends!

Over at STAMPlorations the CUTplorations Challenge  is in full swing, and I just wanted to post a little reminder project for you to get your creative juices flowing. Here it is ...


I simply picked up on some of the colours from the inspiration photo below and substituted the chicks for butterflies. The background is watercoloured and a stamp from the Scribbly Splattery Grunge set provided the added stamped detail. A die-cut sentiment, some doodles, punched daisies and gems was all that was needed to finish my card off.



Pop over to the STAMPlorations Blog to see how my teamies interpreted the photo and to link up your entry too. There are prizes for the winner ($10 gift certificate) and the two runner-ups ($5gift certificate each) as voted by the DT plus, if there are 30 or more entries, one randomly drawn winner can choose any 2 of the CUTplorations Word/Phrase Dies the DT used in their projects. That's well worth creating for, what do you think?

That's it from me for now.
Have a lovely Easter!
hugs
Monika xxx


here is what I used from the STAMPlorations Shop, remember to apply my personal discount code STAMPGIRLMONIKA (not case sensitive) at check out for a 20% discount *** on their stamps, stencils and dies:


CUTplorations Dies used: Be Kind Phrase DieFlutter Zen 1 Layering Dies
preview-bekind preview-flutterzen1layeringdies
STAMPlorations Stamps used: Scribbly Splattery Grunge
SheryRuss_Scribbly Splattery Grunge-preview

*** Discount code works on sale items too