Seize The Birthday - Birds, Bees or Butterflies

It's time for a new Seize The Birthday challenge, and this time our topping is Birds, Bees or Butterflies.

I've been in Distress Ink background mode lately, mainly due to catching up on my Tim Holtz Summer of Creativity homework.  For this background, I used a piece of mixed media paper torn from my pad, smooshed and dipped it in Distress Inks, then adhered it to the card front.  The butterfly was smooshed and dipped after it was cut out, but the happy was smooshed and dipped first.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the design team, then add your birthday creation to the gallery.  If you don't fancy doing birds, bees or butterflies, you can still play along provided it's a birthday creation.

STAMPlorations Third Birthday Blog Hop - Day 2

It's Day 2 of the STAMPlorations third birthday blog hop and linky party!  Today I've made a quick one-layer card using the reverse side of the candle.  I inked it with Distress Inks (surprise, surprise!) and spritzed before stamping.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and if you comment, share, like, and/or link up here's what you could win:

PRIZES

All prizes will be randomly drawn using Random.org

Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and STAMPlorations designers blogs:

• THREE (3) winners of $25 gift certificate
• SEVEN (7) winners (1 per day) of $10 gift certificate

Prizes for liking, commenting, sharing, and tagging a friend on the STAMPlorations Facebook page post: 

• TWO (2) winners of $15 gift certificate -- 1 for the commenter and 1 for the friend she tags in the comment

Prizes for creating and linking up a party/celebration/birthday project:

• ONE (1) winner of Kathryn’s Big Wishes stamp set
• ONE (1) winner of CUTplorations word dies (winner chooses 3 from 10 available)

STAMPlorations Inspiration #83

It's the last day of the month so it's roundup time at STAMPlorations Inspirations.  I've made a little hamlet with a cobbled street, using The Bee's Knees Houses.

I'm trying to use up my mega-stash of patterned paper, and I thought this basket-weave one was a bit villagey - maybe there's a weaver living in one of those cottages?

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for more fabulous inspiration from the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate.

STAMPlorations Third Birthday Blog Hop - Day 1

STAMPlorations is three years old, and we're having a party with prizes!  Deepti has created this gorgeous birthday stamp set, called Kathryn's Big Wishes, just for the occasion.

I stamped the images in Antique Linen (apart from the string which was stamped in Versafine Smoky Grey) and then watercoloured using Distress Inks.  I couldn't resist of few splatters ;)

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and if you comment, share, like, and/or link up here's what you could win:

PRIZES

All prizes will be randomly drawn using Random.org

Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and STAMPlorations designers blogs:

• THREE (3) winners of $25 gift certificate
• SEVEN (7) winners (1 per day) of $10 gift certificate

Prizes for liking, commenting, sharing, and tagging a friend on the STAMPlorations Facebook page post: 

• TWO (2) winners of $15 gift certificate -- 1 for the commenter and 1 for the friend she tags in the comment

Prizes for creating and linking up a party/celebration/birthday project:

• ONE (1) winner of Kathryn’s Big Wishes stamp set
• ONE (1) winner of CUTplorations word dies (winner chooses 3 from 10 available)

I'm entering this into Virginia's View All About Colour.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #82

It's Inspiration Tuesday over at the STAMPlorations blog.  It may surprise you to see that I've got more Groovy Shoes for you.  Well, a girl can never have too many shoes ;)

For this card, I set to with a Tombow Dual Brush marker to get a pop-art-meets-Zentangle finish on my Groovy Lace Up Shoe.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and leave a comment there for your chance to win a £10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store.

Creative Chemistry Revisited - Mk IV and Inspired By All The Little Things

I've been catching up with my Creative Chemistry homework.  Week 4's homework was to use archival ink on your project.  The background text is partially inked with Versafine Onyx Black, but the butterflies panel is stamped with Archival.

I've been busy with DT assignments, but made some time to play along with Inspired By All The Little Things, where they've got this gorgeous inspiration photo:

As much as I was inspired by the photo, I was also inspired by guest designer Ardyth's interpretation.  She has this knack of stripping down the elements of an inspiration card or graphic and rebuilding it in her own innate style, yet still managing to retain the essence of the inspiration - and keep it CAS!

Here's my interpretation, influenced by Ardyth's interpretation.

STAMPlorations Special Release - Large Groovy Shoes

Woohoo! The Bee's Knees Groovy Shoes are now available in larger sizes :)  We're having a special release of the three designs over at STAMPlorations, and you can be in with a chance of winning the set of your choice by leaving a comment - simples!

Groovy Platform Shoes

I made this first card for my friend Mel for her birthday - which isn't until next week but she's already got the card and seen it.  Mel likes her pinks and purples :)

The dotty panel is a stencil mono print using the Dots All Over ARTplorations stencil on a piece of mixed media paper torn from my ringbound pad.

Groovy Wedge Shoes

For this one I stamped the image onto a painted and stencilled panel that was sitting in my stash, then fussy cut it.  The large dots were made by swirling paint with a sponging tool.

Groovy Lace Up Shoes

I went all patriotic with this one.  I made it on the Queen's birthday weekend and we were having a street party, so it had to be red, white and blue!  For the Union Jack I used stamps from the Mixed Media Elements set.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous creations using these stamps, and don't forget to comment for your chance to win!

And keep your eye on the STAMPlorations blog tonight - I'll be there with more Groovy Shoes.  Bring your sunglasses ;)

STAMPlorations Inspiration #81

It's inspiration time at STAMPlorations, and if you've seen the current CASEplorations, you'll know where I got my inspiration from!

I stamped the rose in Distress Inks then dragged the colour in, and fussy cut the image.  The background is part of a failed watercolour sitting in my stash, and the sentiment is from Blossom Overture.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for more fabulous inspiration from the team, and if you leave a comment, you're in with a chance of winning a $10 gift certificate.

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Celebrate With Balloons

It's celebration time at The Paper Players in honour of their 300th challenge, so I thought I'd blow up a few balloons to help the celebrations along.  The middle one must be a foil helium balloon, judging by its crinkly edges ;)

I've used the colour scheme from Uniko Studio's photo challenge, along with Uniko Studio stamps.  You have to look hard for the grey on the blue balloon, but it's there.

And because I've used three or more colours (Dried Marigold, Worn Lipstick, Evergreen Bough, Hickory Smoke) I'm playing along with Virginia's View where it's All About Colour.

My inspiration came from this gorgeous card by Maria.  Cheers, dear :)

Coffee Lovers' Summer Blog Hop - A Cupful of Love

I'm trying to use up all my bits of stencilled and gelli-printed card, and this piece was just big enough to stamp the coffee cup on then fussy cut out so that I can play along with the Coffee Lovers' Summer Blog Hop.

The wonky stitched frame is one of the new range of CUTplorations dies from STAMPlorations which are coming out in July.

I'm also playing along with Virginia's View, where it's all about colour.

My coffee cup background started off by sponging Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral onto white card, then using a wet acrylic block to bleach a pattern (you can just see some of the bleached areas).  I didn't like that very much so I sponged Picked Raspberry through the hearts stencil to pretty it up.

And I'm playing along at CAS Mix Up where the theme is Stamps + Die cuts + my choice of sponging, bleaching and stencilling.

Creative Chemistry Revisited - MkIII

This is my Summer of Creative Chemistry homework for week 2, which was last week.  Already a week behind :(

Had fun playing with the marbling technique.  Here's another version:

I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination today with a canvas.  Here's a sneak peek:

Seize The Birthday - No Toppings

It's time for a new Seize The Birthday, and for this challenge there is no topping, so it's anything goes.

I got this gorgeous Memory Box butterflies die from a stamp show the other week, and this is its first outing.  The alcohol ink panel had been sitting waiting patiently in my stash of backgrounds, and I thought it would work perfectly with this die.  The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and join in with your birthday creation.

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Reminder

Are you playing along at The Mixed Media Card Challenge?  This month the theme is Sunset, and the optional element is postage stamp.

I stencilled the dots with clear paste on a white panel, and once it was dry I set to with the orangey Distress Inks and splattered some water.  On the lower panel I scribbled Distress Crayons, then rubbed them with wet fingers.  The bird is Tim Holtz Crazy Birds, and the sentiment is from STAMPlorations.

STAMPlorations Inspriation #80

It's Inspiration Tuesday over at STAMPlorations.

I stamped the retro car from Enjoy The Ride onto spare white card, watercoloured it with Bundled Sage, then fussy cut it.  The edges of the card  and the sentiment strip were sponged with Frayed Burlap, then I stamped the globe in Versafine Smoky Grey and the sentiment in Faded Denim.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and leave a comment there for your chance to win a £10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations store.

I'm entering my card into Simon Says Monday Challenge - World Traveller.

Craft Stamper Reminder - Take a Technique

It's reminder time at Craft Stamper Take It, Make It!  This month, it's Take a Technique, and we want you to get inky.  Use more than one ink on your project (ink sprays, ink stains, ink pads, acrylic inks) OR use more than one colour of ink on your project. Make sure you include stamping! And only one project in your post.

I've used Distress Inks to watercolour my stamped image (The Bee's Knees Groovy Platforms) and background, and offset the mat layers.  The flower is a ribbon brad - I broke its legs, threaded ribbon through and adhered with foam pads.

Our sponsor this month is Paper Artsy who are giving away five bottles of Infusions:

There are more than five colours in the range - here's the full chart:

The winner chosen by the Design Team will have their project published in Craft Stamper Magazine, a winner's profile feature, and get the chance to be a guest designer in a future challenge!SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Pop on over to the Craft Stamper blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the design team, and join in to win!

Everything In The Garden ...

... is lovely, and growing like crazy in all this lovely warm sunny weather we've been having.  The stars have aligned for a few challenges with this card.  The leaf background (Penny Black - Fronds) had been sitting in my stash patiently waiting to be used, and I thought it would make a nice background for my new Poppystamps die.  I'm adding it to the following challenges:

AAA Cards -Watercolour (watercoloured background and die cut)

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Summer Garden.  The team are showcasing Paper Artsy stamps, and although it's not a requirement, I did manage to use a Paper Artsy stamp (the text stamp on the background).

And because I've used a text stamp on the background, I'm entering it into Inkspirational where the word prompt is 'text'.

My first time playing along at Poppystamps - this month's challenge is Tic Tac Toe.  I've gone for the diagonal - flower, yellow, twine.

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies

And last but by no means least, CAS Mix Up where the challenge is stamping, dies and your choice.  I've used watercolouring, sponging (round the edges of the petals) and twine.

Creative Chemistry Revisited - MkII

I'm back with a another background for my Creative Chemistry homework, and I've broken out my NBUS Crazy Cats, yeah!

This background was done at the same time as yesterday's, using the same colours.  Gotta get it into the gallery quick before the deadline!