Friday, December 14, 2018

Craft Stamper Take It, Make It


Hello, and welcome to the last Craft Stamper Take It, Make It of the year!  We've got a fabulous Altenew prize bundle for one randomly chosen participant:


If your entry is chosen by the Design Team, it'll be published in the magazine, and you'll get a profile post on the blog and a guest design spot in a future Take It, Make It challenge.

Pop on over to the blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and play along with us.  Don't forget to use real stamps (rubber/polymer) in your project, and only one project in your post.  Full guidelines can be found on the blog.

Tuesday, December 04, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #197


Helloooo!  It's our last Tuesday Inspiration post of the year at STAMPlorations.  I'm still trying to use up my huge stash of patterned papers, and the Christmas Reindeer stamps and dies were ideal for this particular paper.  It just so happened that I had the diecut reindeer in my stash ready to go, so it was a really quick cardmaking session.


I chopped up the paper to fit my card, added the Christmas Reindeer CUTplorations diecut shapes, a diecut Let It Snow sentiment, a red gem and brown gem for the noses.  I did consider giving Rudolph's mum a red nose too, to make it hereditary, but who am I to change history?


On another piece of patterned paper I added a larger reindeer diecut, a red nose and the Christmas Blessings sentiment.


This piece of background paper is the right half of the paper used on the first card.  Before you ask, the paper was by Craftwork Cards and I think is discontinued.  All it needed was a tiny reindeer to complement that giant robin on the top sign ;)

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team.  You can get get 20% off any stamps, stencils and dies in the store (except new release and retiring) when you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY.

Things are about to hot up for me - we'll be together as a family at Christmas for the first time in 13 years - lots of preparation to do, so I'll probably be blogging even less than I have been lately until the New Year, so I'll say Happy Christmas to you now, just in case ;)

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Working Through The Stash


Hellooo!  I'm desperately trying to use all my new Christmas stamps - the ones that I bought last year.... so that I can use all the new ones I bought this year....  (I think there may even be stamps in Mt NBUS from even earlier years, so I've got a long way to go yet).  I also really want to pull out some of my old favourite wood-mounted stamps, but I can't justify dragging them out while there's so much unused stuff lying around.

So, in an effort to address the situation, today we have Zinski set 19 from Paper Artsy, vintage 2017.  I actually stamped these out last year but didn't get around to colouring them, although I did use one of the other images from the set.

I'm entering this into Simon Says Work It Wednesday, Ho HO HOliday

and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes,

and Muse Christmas Visions 114, any holiday card.


I'm over at STAMPlorations tonight with a spotlight post on the current STAMP Club set, pop on over for a closer look!


Tuesday, November 27, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #196


It's inspiration time at STAMPlorations, and today we're focusing on Shery's line of stamps.  From 27 November to 3 December there's 20% off all of Shery's stamps, no coupon needed.  If you're Christmas shopping, use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% off these and all other stamps, stencils and dies in the store (excluding retiring and new release sets).

I've used this fab new set, Christmas Baubles, on a piece of stencilled background. Bubbles, Shutters and Confetti Circles were used on the background.

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

Friday, November 23, 2018

Poinsettia Tag


I haven't played in challenges for ages - been making plenty of cards, but just not getting round to posting.  I've been wanting to play along with Loll's final Twelve Tags of Christmas (which is closing in a few hours, eek!!) so this had better be quick post!  I had the honour and pleasure of being a guest designer on some of Loll's earlier Twelve Days of Christmas challenges - thank you, Loll!


I was inspired by this tag by Karen Baker over at Day 23 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  The poinsettia, the two layered tags, but more of a modern twist.

I'm also playing along at Muse Christmas Visions who are sponsoring one of the days of Tracey's event.

I've used a Tim Holtz stencil, my Layered Poinsettias stamp set and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Seize The Birthday - Tags


Welcome to another challenge at Seize The Birthday!  This is our last one for the year to give everyone time to focus on Christmas preparations.  Do you think we'll all be ready on the day???

Our optional topping today is Tags.  I made this tag from bits and bobs lying around either on my desk or in one of my many boxes of bits and bobs!  The base is a piece of Distress smooshed card, with a strip of patterned paper (blue scallop) and a strip of Tim Holtz 3D Impresslits Provincial border.  The scraps of washi were just that, scraps, but they look right on the tag.  I finished it off by tying a bit of pink lace to the twine.

If you're not into tags, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.  Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see what the rest of the design team and our surprise party guest, Marianne, have made and play along with us.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #195


We've got some more inspiration for you at STAMPlorations, and today we're focusing on Deepti's range of stamps, Dee's Artsy Impressions.  From 20-26 November all Deepti's stamps are 10% off, no coupon needed.  If you're starting your Christmas shopping, use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY to get a further 20% these and all other stamps, stencils and dies in the store (excluding retiring and new release sets).

I've used Little Love to create a birthday card for a boy, pouting the stamped panel onto patterned paper and adding a felt number.

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

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #194


Got some STAMPlorations Inspiration for you today, and we're focusing on Becca's line of stamps, Big Grins by Becca Cruger.  From now till 19 November all of Becca's stamps are 10% off, no coupon needed.  And if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY, you'll get 20% off these and all other stamps (except new releases and retiring), stencils and dies in the store.

With a little masking, I've created a crowd to wish someone a happy birthday using Llama Tell You, and sloshed on some Distress Inks.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a gift certificate to the store.

Friday, November 09, 2018

Craft Stamper Take It, Make It


Are you playing along with the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It challenge?  All you need is rubber/polymer stamps and you're in.  You're also in with two chances of winning - either the design team's choice or being randomly chosen as the winner of this fab Christmas bundle of two stamp sets and three stencils from Kaisercraft:


For my card I used one of the Flower Girl stamps by Jane Davenport.  You get the head stamp, and the rest is up to your imagination, your inks and your pens.  The sparkle stamp is from STAMPlorations Art Marks.

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

Thursday, November 08, 2018

Seize The Birthday - Clean And Simple


We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, and this time it's CAS (Clean and Simple).  I found this half-finished stamped and no-line coloured panel in my stash, so I mounted it onto navy card and added a sentiment from Altenew.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to check out what the rest of the design team, and our surprise party guest Marianne, have made, and play along with us.

I'm linking this to the Flower Challenge - Special Occasion.



Tuesday, November 06, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #193


Hellooo!  It's STAMPlorations Inspiration Tuesday and today we're focusing on my range of stamps, The Bee's Knees.  From now till 12 November, all my stamps are 10% off, no coupon needed.  And if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get another 20% off these and all other stamps (except new release and retiring), stencils and dies in the store.

I've stamped and fussy-cut a sheep from Baa Baa, added a hillside using Stitched Snow Hills border die. and some details with Folk Flowers and Houses Extras.  The background is sponged Distress Inks splattered with water.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a gift voucher to the store.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #192



It's Inspiration Tuesday on the STAMPlorations blog, and today I've used my Layered Poinsettias set to add another Christmas card to my stash.   A bit of Stickles and a length of washi tape finishes the card.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a gift certificate to the store.  And if you're doing some early Christmas shopping, don't forget to use my discount code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for 20% of all stamps, stencils and dies

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Seize The Birthday - Foliage


We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday and, appropriately enough for the time of year when nature is at its best, it's foliage.  But if you don't fancy including foliage you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.

I've used my stamp set, Layered Leaves, with Distress Inks and a sentiment from Visible Image.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team and from our surprise party guest, Marianne, then play along with us with your birthday creation.  See you in the gallery!

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration Post #191


It's Inspiration Tuesday over on the STAMPlorations blog, and today we're focusing on Shery's stamps.  From 23-29 October all of Shery's stamps are 10% off, no coupon needed.  If you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get an extra 20% off these and any other stamps, dies and stencils in the store.

I stamped the Classic Calla Lilies image onto a piece of mop-up card from my stash, then lifted some of the colour from the centres of the flowers before adding a bit more colour around the outsides and to the leaves and buds.  The sentiment is from Birthday Bash.

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

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Tribute to Melissa Lane



Some of you will already know that STAMPlorations teamie Melissa passed away on 2 October.  Melissa had been part of the STAMPlorations family for two years, and was dedicated, enthusiastic and prolific in her projects and tutorials.

Melissa loved butterflies, so along with AAA Cards, another of Melissa's design teams, we're creating butterfly cards in memory of her, and they will be passed to her family.  You can find all the details at Tribute To Melissa Lane, and if you also wish to create a card you'll be able to link it up there.


Tuesday, October 16, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #190


It's Inspiration Tuesday on the STAMPlorations blog, and today we're focusing on Deepti's range of stamps.  From 16 to 22 September, there's 10% off Deepti's stamps (no coupon needed), and if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get an extra 20% off those and any other stamps, stencils and dies in the store.

I've combined a couple of sets here - the vase from Just Because and the floral arrangement from Best Mom Ever, and done a bit of surgery on a sentiment from Little Love Birthday Wishes.  Having stamped the vase and flowers I just sloshed some Distress Inks around - usual thing.  

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a gift certificate to the store.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Inspired By Banksy's Pranksy


Couldn't resist making this card...  I don't have the Hope stamp (girl with balloon, famously shredded after auction) but I do have Ghetto Blaster rat so I thought I'd do a bit of shredding myself ;)

If it's good enough for Banksy, it's good enough for me!

The stamp is from Beecrafty.net.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Craft Stamper Take It Make It Reminder


Are you playing along at Craft Stamper Make It, Take It?    We've got a fabulous prize for one randomly chosen player - the Sizzix Wrapped journal by Eileen Hull!  You'd be daft not to join in for your chance to win this.


Luckily, I've already got the die (not that I'd be eligible for this one anyway), so it made sense to make a journal for my DT project.  I used Distress Inks and stencils on the cover, with leaf stamps from Altenew and STAMPlorations.

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

The winner chosen by the Design Team will have their entry published in the the magazine along with a profile, and a chance to guest design in a future challenge.

Good luck!

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Seize The birthday - No Topping


We've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, and this time there's no topping, so you can play along with any birthday-themed project.

I just got an order for several birthday cards including for seven-year-old boys.  I picked up this pirate stamp set with matching paper from the stamp festival at Port Sunlight on Saturday, so the timing was excellent!

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for loads of inspiration from the team, and from our surprise party guest, Marianne, then play along with us.

Tuesday, October 09, 2018

STAMPlorations Inspiration #189


Time for some inspiration on the STAMPlorations blog, and this week we're focusing on Becca's line of stamps, Big Grins By Becca Cruger.  From 9-15 October all of Becca's stamps are automatically 10% off, no coupon needed.  And if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get yourself another 20% off those prices and all other stamps, stencils and dies in the store.  What's not to like?

I've used the cupcake image and small sentiment from Becca's A Snarky Birthday To You.  I made this while I was doing the OCC Colour Theory class using split complimentary colours.  The background paper is from my stash and it's mounted onto black glossy card.

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

Wednesday, October 03, 2018

Another Poinsettia


Popping in with a(nother) poinsettia card (there's plenty more where this came from!).   Easy peasy, stamped the outlines then stamped the solid images, stamped a sentiment and added some torn washi.  Done.

I'm playing at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Let's Get Ready For Christmas.  Well, I'm certainly getting my Christmas cards ready!


I'm over at STAMPlorations tonight with a pictorial on the latest STAMP Club set.  Pop on over and take a look!

Tuesday, October 02, 2018

OCC Colour Theory - Day 3

Day 3 of OCC Colour Theory, and we were looking at complementary colours, split complementaries, tertiary and tetrad.  Here's some homework.

For my complementary colours card I smooshed some red and green Distress Inks, being careful not to let them merge into mud.  The stamps are from Layered Poinsettia.


For this next card I used tertiary colours: blue-green, red-violet and yellow-orange.  The stamps are from Altenew.


I'm entering this into Just Us Girls - Stripes.



STAMPlorations Inspiration #188


I'm still in Christmas card mode with my new stamps.  I've used Layered Mistletoe but today I've mixed it with one of my first stamp sets, Small Birds.

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

From 2-8 October all my stamps are 10% off (no coupon needed) and if you use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY you'll get an extra 20% off all your stamp, die and stencil purchases.

Happy stamping!

Monday, October 01, 2018

OCC Colour Theory Day 2


Hellooo!  Thought I'd show you my Day 2 homework for Online Card Classes Colour Theory.  This first one was for monochromatic colour schemes.  I used Aged Mahogany, and on the left you can see the shades and tints, but on the card I didn't actually use any shades (i.e. adding black), I just used different strengths of the Distress Ink.  I missed the deadline for Simon Says Monday Monochromatic challenge. Oh, well.  But I am in time for Simon Says Wednesday Anything Goes.


My second card is for the analogous colour scheme.  I used green, yellow/green, yellow and yellow/orange.  I happen to have the same leaf die that Debby used, so why not?  I mixed some of the adjoining colours to get more shades.


Back soon with some Day 3 homework.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

OCC Colour Theory Day 1 - Bright Lights


I've been doing the OCC Colour Theory Class with Debby Hughes, and I'm really enjoying pushing outside my colour boundaries.  You know how it is, you grab the same few colours every time because they 'go' and you like them.  But what about all those other poor neglected colours?  It's about time they took their rightful place alongside the faves, and this is the course that will make me do it.

Well, I'm pushing outside my colour boundaries, but I can't get beyond using Distress Inks.  I got my pan watercolours out, I got my tube watercolours out, looked at them and put them back in favour of my Distress Inks.  Can't break the habit.

We started off by making a colour wheel using the three primary colours, then making secondary and tertiary colours.  I used the nearest colours to primary: Candied Apple, Squeezed Lemonade and Blueprint Sketch, then made my secondaries and tertiaries.


Some of those new colours looked familiar, so I matched them with the nearest colours of existing Distress Inks so that I wouldn't have to mix them.


Which then prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for ages - a full colour swatch chart of Distress Inks.  Easy peasy with the minis, just stamp them and add water.


Haven't done my homework for secondary and tertiary colours yet, but I'm entering my primary one into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.



Friday, September 28, 2018

STAMPlorations Christmas Release - Day 4


It's the final day of the STAMPlorations Christmas Release, and today we're focusing on the CUTplorations Doodled Christmas Candles Coverplate, Christmas Blessings and Making Spirits Bright dies.

For my first card I cut the phrase out of mirri card and used bright colours for my Layered Lights


A fussy-cut poinsettia and a black frame for the Christmas Blessings die.


My original idea with this next card was to score the lines then sponge the colours, but I wasn't happy with the effect, so I cut another plate from white paper, knocked all the bits out then overlaid it.  Much better!


This next one looks clean and simple, but it actually took quite a while to trim all the pieces away!


Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some gorgeous creations from the rest of the team.  We hope you've enjoyed this release and blog hop and that it's given you some inspiration for your Christmas cards.  Don't forget to leave a comment on the designer's blogs and the STAMPlorations blog every day for maximum changes of winning a $25 gift certificate to the store.

If you can't wait, stamps and dies (including new release) in the CHRISTMAS CUTplorations Dies section are 10% off automatically until 8 October - use my code STAMPGIRLSHIRLEY for an extra 20% off!