STAMPlorations Inspiration #63 - Happy Balloon Day

It's the last day of the month, so we've got some more inspiration for you over on the STAMPlorations blog.  I've been playing with Deepti's Balloons And Banners set to make a one layer birthday card.

I stamped and coloured the balloons and strings in Wild Honey, Twisted Citrus and Crushed Olive, then added the strings in black.  The Happy Birthday sentiment grounds the balloons (should balloons be 'grounded' anyway??).

Don't forget to leave a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate :)

I'm entering this into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes,

and CAS(E) This Sketch.

Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd Birthday Bash

I'm late to the Late Party!  Winnie & Walter are having their Belated 2nd Birthday Bash with loads of lovely challenges to enter.

As is usual when I start making something for one of the challenges, it soon finds itself overlapping into some of the other challenges.  So I've ended up with two cards and a bookmark that, between them, cover all ten challenges.

The first challenge to spark my creativity was Taheera's Image Inspiration:

and this is what I made, using torn washi tape and the Happy cutaway:

It's a twofer cos I'm also entering it into Mayuri's Inlaid Die-Cutting challenge.

My next card is a fourfer:
Vanessa's Rainbow challenge,
Kelly's Over the Edge challenge,
Heather H's Gold & Watercolour challenge,
and Gayatri's Create Your Own Background.

And finally, another fourfer:
Kate's Anything But a Card challenge (bookmark),
Heather P's Colour challenge,
Lydia's Floral challenge,
and Shay's Two challenge (two flowers, two torn washi strips, two rows of machine stitching).

Happy Belated 2nd Birthday, Winnie & Walter!

Seize The Birthday - No Topping

It's Seize The Birthday time, and for this challenge there's no topping, so it's Anything Goes as long as it's a birthday project.

I've used the Penny Black 'Sparkler' stamp, using Distress Inks as watercolours, and a Distress Marker around the edges of the petals.

I'm entering this into CASology, where the challenge is 'Distress'.  Predictably, I've gone for Distress Inks as my interpretation of the cue word :)

STAMPlorations Art Marks - Special Release from Shery

Hi peeps, and welcome to a little mini-release and hop from STAMPlorations.  Shery has designed this fabulous grungy Art Marks set with plenty of scribbles, splatters and other marks to enhance your creativity.

Here's my card.  I stamped some of the images in Versamark then white-embossed them.  On a piece of acetate I smooshed some Victorian Velvet, Crushed Olive and a touch of Aged Mahogany, spritzed it then dipped the card onto it.  (I know I could have smooshed before stamping and embossing, but I wanted to do it this way round.  I'm like that.)

I stamped the sentiment on black card in Versamark then white-embossed it, trimmed it down and stapled it to the panel, then added the panel to my card base.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more stunning inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment on all our posts for a chance to win.

The Art Marks set is available in the shop at 10% off for one week until 2 March.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #62 - Happy Dragonfly

Ready for some more STAMPlorations Inspiration?  Good!  Today's card uses the ARTplorations Bloom Silhouettes stencil with Distress Inks swished on the back and spritzed then laid onto a piece of white card.  The excess ink is taken up by pressing kitchen roll onto the stencil before lifting the stencil off, then all the colours run into each other.

On a spare piece of card I stamped the dragonfly from The Bee's Knees Winged Things, coloured it with the same inks, then cut out the wings and body and slathered them in Wink of Stella.  I stamped the dragonfly onto the panel, then attached the dragonfly body over the top.

The sentiment is from Shery's new set, Big Greetings.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning.

Gelli Plate Playtime

Last week I did a demonstration at my craft club using the 5x3 inch Gelli Plate, followed by a make and take workshop and a giveaway of 3 Gelli Plates and mini brayers.  So in preparation for the demo, I made about 20 prints in various colours, using various stencils, bits of lace, bubblewrap, etc.  Out of all of them, this was my favourite print - I love how there's still a bit of colour in the white spaces, and it almost looks like it's embossed, but it's completely flat.

To finish off the panel, I masked the central print and stamped around the edges with Mixed Media Elements and Mixed Media Grunge.

I'm entering this into TIME OUT - if you look closely at the inspiration photo you'll see blues and greens on the globe.

I'm also entering into Cupcake Inspirations - blue green and white.  Hope it's not too grungy!

A few weeks ago I bought this photo multi frame, with the idea that I would gradually fill each 6x4 aperture with a new piece of artwork, but as soon as I got it home I ended up filling every aperture with various background panels from my stash because I couldn't stand to see all the blanks!  There's just enough room to slot the panels in front of the glass, so I can chop and change the images easily without having to take the frame down.    It's on my craft room wall, and it makes me happy every time I look at it.  Here's what it looks like at the moment, but I think today's panel will be finding its way on there soon!

Vintage Calorie Treat

This is the third card in my vintage tea room themed trio.  My first one was here and on the STAMPlorations blog yesterday, and my second one is on the STAMPlorations blog today.  If you pop over there you'll see a run-through of how I made them.

The tea room was adorned with vintage themed ephemera, pictures, teapots - and the food was absolutely gorgeous!  Here are a couple of pics that I snapped while we were in there.

Love the wire dress form!

froffee coffee