Christmas again ...

Still searching for that elusive design ... today's efforts.

First up, a simple design with a die cut bird and a little stamping

I used:
STAMPlorations - words from the following stamp sets - Joyful and Christmas Bell Medley
CUTplorations die - For The Birds Coordinating Dies
Distress Inks - Festive Berries and Rusty Hinge
Versafine Onyx Black

I'm going to enter the following challenges:
TIME OUT Challenges #148


STAMPlorations Never-Ending Anything Goes
 

My second design, also involved a bird:

Two cards for the price of one!

I used:
Tim Holtz Background Stamp - Holiday from the Stripes and Holiday set
Versafine Onyx Black
CUTplorations -  For The Birds Coordinating Dies
Distress Ink - Festive Berries

I'm entering the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More #366


Penny Black and More November Challenge - Christmas

Enjoy!

Wet and dreary ...

... at least the weather is!!!

Wet weather at least provides me with a good excuse to stay inside and play ... I did do the housework before I began ..

I've been trying to create some Christmas cards but progress has been very slow as have yet to find a design that I like enough to make more than one of!  This is a possibility:

I used:
M&C Boutique Cutting Die - Stags head
Vintage Photo Distress INk
Funky Fossil Designs Antler's Stencil.

I'm entering the new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More #366


I'm delighted to say that I received an Addicted to Stamps and More 'Honorable Addict' award for this card:

Enjoy

STAMPlorations November Challenge ...

Well, that's another month done and dusted ... where has the year gone too!!  It's time for the start of a month of new challenges at STAMPlorations ... this month for the Theme and Photo Challenge we are using this prompt:

I'd like to share my project with you and hope that it will encourage you to join in.

I took the theme of stamps and circles and a couple of the colours and shapes from the photo.  I die cut circles from the top layer and then stamped the leaves.  The sentiments were stamped and heat embossed onto the card base before the top layer was added.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Positive Vibes

                              - Leaves of Thanks

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

WOW Clear Embossing Powder

Salty Ocean Distress Ink and Distress Oxide

Pine Needles Distress Oxide Ink

Pop along to see the beautiful designs from all of the design team ... then get crafting and join in with the fun!!

Enjoy!

Time for a challenge ...

It has been sometime since I was able to enter any challenges ... I've been busy creating for my daughter's wedding ... everything is now in place for the big day so I had time to create without purpose!!

I had a quick look around the challenge blogs to see which one took my fancy ... actually there were a couple but I'll begin with the AAA Cards - the challenge is to create leaving maximum 'white' space with the optional twist of geometric.  This is what I came up with:

A simple design using die cuts with a stamped sentiment.

I used:
UNIKO sentiment
Cut and Make Mini Botanical die
Memory Box Honeycomb Square

Hopefully I will soon get back to regular blogging.

Enjoy!

AAA Cards #152


Addicted to Stamps and More #364

STAMPlorations Belated 6th Birthday ...

This week we are celebrating (belatedly) STAMPlorations 6th Birthday with a Linky Party with prizes along the way.

Today's celebration features the clear stickers that we introduced to the product range earlier this year - this is a versatile and useful new product which I simply love.  There is a complete selection available - including sentiments and words as well as artsy background stickers.  I have used a combination of both in my projects - join in with the party and check out how the other designers have used the stickers.

I love putting sentiments on a vellum overlay but often struggle to stamp the words without smudging them - as you will see from my card by using the clear stickers I get a beautifu sentiment onto vellum and not a smudge in sight!!

The background was created using alcohol inks and foil.  The sticker was placed onto a piece of vellum before being adhered to the background and then added to the card base.

I used:

STAMPlorations Clear Stickers

                             Crazy Double Running Stitch Nesting Rectangles

My second project is quite different:

I wanted to show how the stickers can also be used to add interest to the background of a project - the top right words are just part of one of the stickers and the black edge on the left corner is actually part of the sticker that is left on the backing once you've the main sticker.

I used:

STAMPlorations  Clear Stickers

                               Manila Tags Nesting Dies

I hope that I've inspired you to pop along to the STAMPlorations blog and check out the other projects - I just know that you will not be disappointed.

Enjoy!

                           

STAMPlorations October challenges ...

Just popping by ... I hope October is going well for you all and that you are finding time to be creative!!  A quick post to remind you and inspire you to join in with the October STAMPoration challenges.  The Theme and Photo challenge details:

This time I have created a really CAS card - concentrating on a simple out image and three  colours all on a very light background.

I used:
STAMPlorations:
Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity dies
Brilliant Word die

Enjoy!

STAMPlorations Challenges are back! ...

Today marks the start of all of the STAMPlorations challenges starting a new season ... I'm delighted to say that I am still on one of the design teams and look forward to sharing lots of new projects which I hope will inspire you all to get involved.  The challenges have been tweaked by Shery so it really is worth checking out the new look ... and remember, as ever, there are prizes to be won.  Let's get started:

First up is the new Theme and Photo Challenge:

This is my first project - inspired by the dark background, the outline images and the three colours.

The background was stamped with versamark ink and then heat embossed.  The bloomdala images were die cut from some background card created using inks, paint and stencils.

I used:
STAMPlorations
Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity Dies
Bloomdala Bliss Stamp Set
Smile Word Die 

Enjoy!