Paper craft project no. 448: Every flower is a soul

We have a brand new challenge at Time Out. It's a one-week challenge, however, instead of our usual two weeks. This time around we're to CASE a card and put our own twist to our creation. We are CASE-ing this gorgeous card by Therese Calvird of Lost In Paper.

I went with the stamped rows (Mixed Media Elements) but instead of going with pink, I went with yellow -- nice and summery :o). I wasn't in the mood for fussy cutting flowers so I went with the framed zinnia stamp (Blossoming). My twist? Instead of coloring all the flowers, I just colored one with Aqua Markers. I'm not a vellum girl so I simply stamped the sentiment in black.

Check out the cards the team + guest designer Birgit made and then link up your own project inspired by Therese's card. We can't wait to see your creations!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 447: Close your eyes and wish STAMPlorations 3rd birthday blog hop

It's STAMPlorations' birthday today! Yes, my little stamp company is three years old. I'm so thrilled with how it has grown and even more thrilled that I have so many amazing and talented artists in my design team! I'm proud to say that I have best designers :o)

Together, we're celebrating our birthday for the next 7 days and oh boy, you're in for a treat -- we've got dozens of inspiration and over $200 worth of prizes to give away! All you gotta do is visit the STAMPlorations blog and designers' blogs and leave comments along the way -- easy peasy! The hop starts here.

For my celebration card, I used the sweet stamps from Deepti's new set, Kathryn's Birthday Wishes. Deepti's muse for this set is my little girl, Kathryn Corazon, who is 10 months old today! I was touched when Deepti showed me the rough draft of this set a couple of months ago and I knew it was the perfect set to release in time for our third birthday :o) I stamped the balloons and Kathryn and then used the coordinating CUTplorations dies. I went to town with the markers (I used 4 different brands -- Chameleon, Aqua Markers, Sharpies, and BIC -- just for the fun of it). I die-cut the panel using the CUTplorations large crazy stitch rectangle die.

Our birthday week is also the perfect time to launch the new addition to our family of products: CUTplorations thin metal dies!

Then there are also prizes (stamps and CUTplorations thin metal dies) for those who will link up a celebration or birthday themed project by Tuesday, July 5, as inspired by the mood board below.

 

And if you visit the STAMPlorations Facebook page, you can win a gift certificate for you and friend :o)

So appreciate your time visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Please check out what the rest of the STAMPlorations girls have made today. If you get lost hopping along the way, you can always go back to our main blog here.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 446: Coffee cards

  

Over at the STAMPlorations blog, we're participating in the fun Summer Coffee Lovers hop. We're also releasing 8 single coffee/tea-themed stamps sets (find them here).

I'm sharing a couple of cards I made featuring the new stamps and a couple of the new CUTplorations thin metal dies that will be released on July 3.

CARD #1: Happy Coffee

On my card base, I stamped the Framed Coffee Word Art (Black) in coffee archival ink and stamped the Framed Coffee Pot on scrap and cut it out. Using the medium die in the CUTplorations Crazy Double-Stitched Rectangles, I die-cut thin chipboard. I also die-cut the "happy" twice and then layered. I'm not much of an actual layers girl when it comes to card-making, but I was pretty happy with this card because it came together quickly.

CARD #2: Happiness in a Cup

Now here's my kind of card -- a one layer ;o) I stamped the Coffee Cup Row border and masked it before stamping the Framed Coffee Word Art (Black) on the bottom part of my card. I gave the cups a splash of color using the splatter stamp in Art Marks and stamping some bright yellow, pink, and cyan inks. Then I simply finished it with a sentiment from Coffee Happy.

Check out the cards that the STAMPlorations girls made. Comment on the STAMPlorations blog and on the designers' blog for a chance to win one of the 8 new coffee/tea stamps -- we'll be picking 3 lucky commenters! Comment by Friday, June 24.

And for Summer Coffee Lovers hop participants, all orders placed on the STAMPlorations store are 15% off until June 28. (No minimum order.) Use the coupon code SUMMERCLBH on checkout.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no: 445: Amazing birthday CAS mixed media card

We have a brand new challenge at Time Out. For the next couple of weeks, it's "Theme with a twist" challenge. The theme: masculine; the twist: mixed media (two other elements that add texture and/or dimension).

I went with the theme and twist (die-cuts and stencil) for my card and made this birthday card. I wanted to take one of the brand new CUTplorations dies, Crazy Double-Stitched Rectangles, for a test drive (available beginning July 3; read about product sneak peek here). I used the medium rectangle die then stamped the postage frame, vintage car, and postmark (Gone Postal), as well as the sentiment (Party Time), on the panel. On my card base I applied chipped sapphire Distress ink through an ARTplorations stencil (Bubbles) then I adhered the die-cut panel onto it with foam tape and the card is done.

Check out the cards the team + guest designer Patti made and then link up your own project inspired by the phrase. Sponsoring this challenge is STAMPlorations. We can't wait to see your creations!

Linking up my card to this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge. My extra is stenciling.

Also linking at 613 Avenue Create #180, where it's Anything Goes + optional twist of Create Your Own Challenge. I went with A2 (C1/Card Type), Birthday (C2/Event), and stencil (C3/Trends).

...and CASology #202, where this week it's all about masculine cards.

This month's optional color in the STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge is blue and the theme in the STAMPlorations Challenge is Stamps & Celebration, so I'm linking my card in both.

  

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 444: Big Bloom Factory mixed media projects

  

This week over at STAMPlorations, we're releasing another set I designed: Big Bloom Factory. It coordinates with the ARTplorations Big Bloom Factory Large stencil. We've got a mini hop for it -- hop on over the blog and leave a comment on the special stamp release post, as well as on the participating designers blogs for a chance to win this set.

To showcase this set, I created two projects: a mixed media frame and a monoprint one layer card.

Mixed media frame
Last week, I picked up this rather plain 8x8 Plaid wood frame at Walmart for $0.88. I applied gesso and then white Dylusions paint once the gesso was dry. I also painted the sides of the frame with black Dylusions paint and I wasn't really being careful when painting because I wanted to give the frame a distressed look on the front. Then on my Gelli plate, I brayered my three favorite colors: purple, orange, and yellow. I took 4 of the flowers in the set and stamped them onto the paint to get an impression. Then I simply placed the frame on the Gelli plate, pressed it down a bit, pulled, and taaa-daaa -- a grungy, distressed monoprint...no sanding or anything fancy required to achieve the look ;o) I thought the edges of the frame needed something so I randomly stamped some bricks (Mixed Media Grunge) in black archival ink. I painted the inner edges with yellow to give the frame some sort of border. I sealed the frame with a couple layers of gel matte medium, and I finished with a photo of my little Kathryn -- this one was taken during her first photo session back in September when she was 19 days old. Yes, she was already very alert and could hold up her head when she was barely 3 weeks old! :o)

*****

The world is a canvas monoprint one layer card

I didn't want to waste the paint that was left over on the Gelli plate after monoprinting on the photo frame so I decided to pull a few more prints (actually 3 prints). The print I used on this card is the second print I pulled and didn't really need much so I simply stamped the sentiment (Art Is...) and the card is done :o)

Check out what Susanne, Carol, Tanja, Irit, and Asmah created using the Big Bloom Factory set -- leave a comment here, on their blogs, and on the STAMPlorations blog by Friday and you could win this set :o) And until June 15, Big Bloom Factory is 10% off.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 443: For you one layer card

We have a brand new challenge at Time Out. For the next couple of weeks, it's the Home Sweet Home challenge. Here's the inspiration photo, and a lovely one at that!

I took my cue from the brick wall and created a one layer CAS card. Just like my previous TO card, I stuck with a limited palette: black, yellow, and brick red. First, I stamped the daffodils (Framed Daffodils) in black VersaFine ink. Then I masked it before randomly stamping the bricks (Mixed Media Grunge) in black soot Distress ink. I pulled the black with a wet brush. I colored the center of the flowers with a splatter stamp (Art Marks) and then finished it off by stamping the simple sentiment (Gone Postal) in brick red.

Check out the cards the team + guest designer Karren made and then link up your own project inspired by the phrase. We can't wait to see your creations!

Linking up to these fun challenges:

• Crafting by Designs - June Anything Goes Challenge
• Stampin' Royalty #332 - Flowers
• Addicted to CAS #89 - Petals
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion #314 - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart #114 - Anything Goes
• Artistic Inspirations #157 - Anything Goes/Flowers
• Addicted to Stamps and More #196 - Anything Goes - I'm going on a limb to say mine is the silhouette of a wild bird :o)

 

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Card ingredients

Inks: Ranger Archival, VersFine

Stamps:

      

Framed Daffodils | Mixed Media Grunge | Art Marks | Gone Postal

Paper craft project no. 442: You are awesome one layer mixed media card

Sunset is the theme over at The Mixed Media Card Challenge this month. The optional element is a postage stamp. Lots of ways to go with the theme: feature a sunset in the card, use the colors of the sunset (as I've done), or even incorporate the word.

For my one layer mixed media card, I dry-brushed yellow, orange, and red acrylic paint on my card base. Once dry, I  stamped my postage stamps (from Gone Postal) in coffee archival ink then stamped my sentiment (from Hashtag Authentic) in black archival ink. I mixed orange and red acrylic paints on modeling paste then applied it through a stencil  (ARTplorations Old Rose Prints) and the card's done.

Hope you'll check out the mixed media cards that the rest of the team made and then be inspired to join in! 

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)