Roses are pink

Another floral for you today.... 

If you are a follower of mine you will know I love photographic images...  and I just had to crack open the lovely Rose Layers stamp set by Paperbabe that I recently won .With 4 layers and an outline (which I didn't use on this make) the sense of depth is fabulous, provided that you have the right colour inks!

It turns out that I have the same colour in different type of inks (pigment, Archival, Distress Oxide, Memento, Versafine) but not several shades (lighter/darker) of that pink. As I progressed through the stamping, I tried several inks combination and also resorted to 2nd generation stamping.

The stamping did take some time... consider there are 10 roses, and 4 layers per roses and even the cropped ones take as long... but, I think, well worth it!

 

I made this into a birthday card by adding a sentiment (Everyday sentiment stamp set and Layers Frame & Banners die set both by Julie Hickey Designs) but it would be perfect for Mother's day too (still to come for some countries).

I hope you will like this one do let me know in your comments!

I am entering the Allsorts,  Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations and We Love Chocolate Baroque challenges.

More wings and feathers

Already mid month? If you haven't entered our STAMPlorations Theme & Photo prompt challenge now is the time... 
The theme and photo prompt are: 

 

I explored the same theme and techniques as for my first inspiration make, but changed things around. 

For my background instead of inks I used acrylic paints, mainly Deco Arts but some Paper Artsy chalk paints too with the Gelli plate and the Shower of Flutters stencil (I know the butterflies are difficult to see but they are the lavender blobs...) 

I added some coloured Grunge paste through the Bamboo Slimline stencil and stamped some Art Marks images.

My focal point is a trio of feathers (Trendy Feathers) with a piece of muslin, a Bloomdala Felicity die-cut and some gems.

The STAMP girls are showing inspiration for all the challenges on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget to enter a make following the Theme, the Photo Prompt or both of course, for  a chance to win prizes...

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, Addicted to stamps, SSS Wednesday and We Love Chocolate Baroque challenges.

       

Seeds of hope

I am in a flower mood... they are an easy theme to give for any occasion so having a stock of cards ahead of time is a good thing.

I used 2 stamps on this card, the sentiment is from the Life is so much better set and the image is Movie Strip Collage both by Chocolate Baroque.

To stamp the image, I inked the flower with coloured markers and used black on the film strips and tag. I then used watercolours to colour in the petals and background.

Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the Allsorts,  We Love Chocolate Baroque, Stamping Sensations , SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday  challenges.

Sightseeing in Paris

I am back as promised for more inspiration for our Country View Challenge where the theme this month, chosen by yours truly is "We will always have Paris".

Today I made a mini album to show you the sites... 

The album is simply constructed with one long piece of cardstock where the pages are accordeon folded. 

The front cover has been embossed with one of the Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folder- Eiffel Tower and French Script Set and over embossed with several colours of embossing powders. 

Inside I have stamped and embossed in white directly on the cardstock the words, "il était une fois" from the French Lace set and "Paris" from the Made in France set, both from Crafters' Companion. 

The first page has an old map of Paris (Scripted Streets, Visible image) followed by a description from the A4 stamp sheet KTZ-50 by Katzelkraft . All other stamps are from this same sheet, which is not available anymore. 

I added colour with Distress inks, either as a wash using an acrylic block or with Distress foam.

There you have it, Paris in a nutshell, real and fantasy... don't you love this undulating Eiffel Tower? Your turn now to create something that reminds us of Paris or la douce France for a chance to to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop. 

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Addicted to stamps, Paperbabe and SSS Wednesday, challenges.

Birds of a feather

Also starting today is our STAMPlorations Theme and photo prompt challenge. 

This month the theme and photo are:

I took inspiration from both theme and photo and used my Gelli plate to remove ink with feather images from the Trendy Feathers stamp set (unfortunately not available at the moment). Of course you can use the real thing instead! 

Then I stamped the same feathers with ink as a second layer before taking the print.  [If you want more details on this technique you will find a step by step here]
I added birds die-cut from multi-coloured paper with the For the Birds CUTplorations, a doily from Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity Dies the sentiment from the matching stamp set and some sequins from White Frost - ShakerBlends .

To finish I stencilled the tag border with the Stitchings Slimline stencil.

For more inspiration hop to the  STAMPlorations blog and check what my teamies made. Don't forget there are prizes if you play with us and mid month we will be back with more inspiration for you...

***

Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,
 

         

Paris, here we come!

Spring is in full swing and my mind turns to thoughts of holidays and travel... Well, between Covid 19 and Brexit those trips, which so often includes our nearest country and gateway to Europe, have been put on the back burner.

Still... We will always have Paris!

And this is the theme I chose for our Country View Challenge, which this month I am hosting, so take me to Paris and show me the sights!
Don't worry, if you don't have any Paris themed supplies, you can use anything that says "France". Think fashion, wine, lavender fields of Provence, old adverts etc...  Just make sure that the theme is obvious and not a tiny bit of French script or fleur de Lys lurking in a corner of your make.

To kick off the theme, I made a fictional scene where all the major Paris 

landmarks feature together.

This is a Crafter's Companion stencil set, where you can use the 3 layers separately or together, but beware, if you want the front layer to be really in front you will need to mask areas or use an opaque medium. I used Distress Oxides for my front layer and regular Distress inks for the other 2. The landmarks are at the front are from left to right the Sacré Cœur, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. In the next layers are the moulin rouge, the Invalides (that's my best guess), Monpartnasse, Notre Dame and the July column. The back layer...hmm I don't recognise the buildings but of course it's an artist impression not a photograph!

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog - Spoiler alert - my DT mates rose up to the challenge brilliantly - and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

I will be back in 2 days to give you more inspiration...

Thanks for coming by,

[1] BTW this is a famous line from the 1942 movie Casablanca)