Happy Birdie To You

Here's a little STAMPlorations inspiration for you.  SmallBirds are having a little party :)  I stamped the birds on spare card, along with the hat from Dee's Party Mates, and fussy cut them out.

On a piece of mixed media paper, I daubed some Distress Paints (Pickled Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass), spritzed them heavily with water and let the paint merge and drip.  Once it was dry,  I stamped the grunge strip from Mixed Media Grunge, adhered the panel to the card, then stamped the grunge strip again on the base card before adhering the partygoers.

Pop on over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for your inspiration!

SmallBirds

Mixed Media Grunge

Party Mates

Welcome, Baby Russ!

It's official!  We STAMPlorations girls are finally aunties!  To celebrate the birth of Shery's new baby Catherine we're having a little blog hop to welcome her into the world.

Every little girl needs a full wardrobe of clothes, so I made a start!  I stamped the double clothes rail using the stamps from PartyDresses, then stamped the jackets on the top rail, masking as I went.  On the bottom rail, I stamped the babygros again masking as I went.  A bit of colour wash, a bit of splattering and it's done!

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see all the hop links, and join in with your card for Shery.

I know it's early days yet, but I bet baby's first word is going to be 'STAMP' ;)

STAMPlorations Inspiration

Here's a little STAMPlorations inspiration for you.  I've used the Eiffel Tower Cake from WorldBirthdayCakes and some neon gel pens to create the image panel, and Distress Inks and the text block from CityGirl for the background.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and if you fancy CASEing this or any of our cards, why not add it to the CASE playground for a chance to win prizes.

Don't forget about these deals:

 

Seize The Birthday - Weather Element

It's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and this time the topping is Weather Element.  Sun, clouds, rain, wind, whatever you like.

I went for sunshine, which has been severely lacking this summer, although my neighbour has managed to grow several huge sunflowers.

If you don't want to include a weather element, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project, so come and join us!

Party Dresses - Mini Blog Hop!

Hello there!  Today PartyGirl gets a makeover with my new set, PartyDresses, which features three new dresses, plus a stole (front and back view), a bow, a belt (which doubles as a bare midriff on the slinky dress), a hanger, and components to make a clothes rail or a tailor's dummy.  This set complements PartyGirl, but can also be used independently (apart from the two stole stamps).

When Shery suggested some dresses for PartyGirl, I had a little problem to overcome - I never gave her any hands (deliberately, I may add - I was avoiding drawing them!), which meant she could only have full-skirted dresses unless I could think of a way round it.  That's where the stole comes in ;)  I find it easiest to stamp the images in this order: arms, dress, stole, head, legs.

Here's another card using the rear view of the stole.  All the dresses work in front or rear view.  For this card, the best order is arms, stole (then mask the stole), dress, head, legs.

So, now's your chance to comment to win.  Just head on over to the STAMPlorations blog for the rest of the links to the mini hop, and you could be in with a chance of winning this set.  Commenting closes Friday 28 August at 11:55 pm US Pacific Time.

Don't worry - if you're not the lucky winner, the stamp set will be available at 10% off for the next week :)

A Card, Some Reminders and Some News

First, the card.  I'm playing along with Just Add Ink where the challenge is cards for males.  I've used an NBUS set from Craftwork Cards, and mixed a bottle green from Pine Needles and Forest Moss Distress Inks.  The sentiment is from STAMPlorations Party Time.

Next, some reminders.

You've still got a week to enter the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It challenge - pens and pencils.  A randomly chosen winner will get a stamp plate from Chocolate Baroque, and the winner chosen by the Design Team will get their project published in the magazine, a winner's profile in the mag and on the blog, and a guest design spot.  Click here for all the details.

Some offers at STAMPlorations:

Some news:

Starting in September, I'm thrilled to be part of the Design Team for A Sprinkle of Imagination!

And finally...

Pop back tomorrow for the launch of my new stamp set, PartyDresses, with a mini blog hop.

Looking Back

It's time for some inspiration from STAMPlorations, and today we're looking back at some of the older stamps.

I've used Sketched Tulips for my main image, the text block from Vignette: It's Your Day for the background panel, the stitches from Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Squares, and the sentiment from Vignette: Celebrate Artsy.

Sketched Tulips 

Vignette: It's Your Day

Patchwork Frenzy:
Graphic Squares

Vignette: Celebrate Artsy

Pop on over to the blog for some more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.  Don't forget, if you want to CASE any of our cards, you can add yours to the CASE playground for a chance to win prizes. There aren't too many entries yet, so your chances are good!

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Reminder

Here's another little reminder about the Mixed Media Card Challenge, where the theme is Butterflies, with the optional element of Gold.

I made this card a few months ago, so this is what I think I did: mixed some lilac glitter powder into some embossing paste (I won't be doing it again!  I remember it lost all its sparkle) then inked the grid image and stamped it onto a piece of card.  Once dry, I tore around the edges.  I stamped some grunge images from Mixed Media Grunge onto the base card and added some strips of washi tape. I stamped the butterfly (Uniko Studio) then cut out a butterfly image from a scrap of acetate that had been inked with alcohol inks and overstamped.  My nod to gold is the two staples holding the acetate onto the stamped butterfly image.

There's still time to join in with the challenge here, so come and join us!

STAMPlorations Blog Hop - Frames and Flowers

It's the final day of our STAMPlorations Blog Hop, and today we're showcasing Deepti's second set, Frames and Flowers.  You could create endless miniature floral frames with this set.

On spare card, I stamped the oblong frame, then masked the edges and stamped the images inside the frame with Distress Inks.  Then I took my 0.05 fineliner and scribbled over the images.  I placed the panel onto white cardstock to gauge the position of the sentiment, removed it, stamped the sentiment then adhered it to the card.

Okay, you know the drill, time to get commenting.

• FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.

Don't forget to check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team here, and good luck with the draw!

STAMPlorations Blog Hop - Houses Extras

Welcome back to Day 4 of the STAMPlorations blog hop.  Today we're showcasing my other set in this release, Houses Extras, which co-ordinates with Houses.

I stamped my images onto white card, then got out my neon pens and scribbled more outlines on each image.  Fussy cut them and adhered them onto coloured cardstock and added a sentiment from Deepti's second set for this release, which you'll see more of tomorrow.

You know the setup - comment to win:

• FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.

Check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team here, and I'll see you tomorrow for our final day of the hop.

STAMPlorations Blog Hop - Fond Expressions 2

Welcome back!  It's Day 3 of our STAMPlorations blog hop, and today we're showcasing Shery's set, Fond Expressions 2.  Love that mix of fonts!

I smeared Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, and Fossilised Amber) over a piece of mixed media card then polished it in with a piece of kitchen roll (which is how the streak of Fossilised Amber accidentally got into the sky - but it looks pretty!).  I was a bit too enthusiastic with the Black Soot Distress Mini when it came to stencilling the geese from the Some Birds stencil, as some of the ink leaked under the stencil, so I just extended the outlines with a black pen where necessary.

Time to get commenting - here's what you can win:

• FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.

You can find loads of fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team here.  Come back tomorrow for another set :)

STAMPlorations and Freshly Made Sketches

Hello there!  Freshly Made Sketches have reached their 200th challenge, and STAMPlorations is one of the many sponsors for the challenge.  I've created this snazzy little number from some of the images in my newest set, The Bee's Knees Party Dresses, which you'll be seeing plenty more of in the coming weeks - this is just a taster ;)

Here's the sketch for the challenge.  I flipped the sketch so that the smaller section was at the bottom, and stamped the DNA stripe stamp across the bottom of my card panel using a palette of Distress Inks in blues.  Then I stamped the images to create the tailor's dummy and dress, sloshed some colour on and added lots of splatters.  I repeated the DNA stripe pattern around the base card to tie the two layers together.

You really don't want to miss this milestone challenge, because there are so many sponsors!  And that means lots of opportunities to win!  Get on over there to see all the fabulous inspiration, then get creating :)