Have Map Will Travel

Hello crafters, 

Have you entered the STAMPlorations March challenge yet? Time is running out...

To inspire you I have created a travel theme card using a scrap of an old map. Who remembers when we used paper and not Sat-nav for directions? 

The stamped elements are all from the Born to Roam stamp set, coloured with pencils.

They were then fussy cut and popped on foam pads.

I used the Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies to cut the black cardstock to an A2 (US size) format.

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Hop on over to the STAMPlorations™ Blog to check my teamies' inspiration makes and link up your  creations! There are prizes to be won....

- a discount code worth $25 chosen by a STAMPgirl from entries that use STAMPlorations products 
- and a $10 discount code for a randomly selected entries (need not feature a STAMP product)(discount codes apply to shipping & products) 

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

 
Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Stamping Sensations, We Love Stamping challenges

   

Flock of birds

Hello crafters, 
This fortnight, the Allsorts challenge optional theme, chosen by Lynn is "Things with Wings". As usual, you can also enter with an "anything goes" theme.

I prepared a piece of cardstock with a wash of blue watercolour, fading to white.
I then stamped several bird stamps from the STAMPlorations set "Trendy Birds 2" as well as two of the sentiments.
Finally, I used the larger of the dies in the "Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies" set (also STAMPlorations) and matted the card with black and blue cardstock.

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Hop over to the Allsorts challenge blog to see all the DT inspiration and upload your projects. There are two prizes to be won: a $30 gift card from Taylored Expressions and an extra prize of an A4 stamp set. 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Stamping Sensations,  We Love Stamping and

                                                        Polkadoodles challenges

Tower card and door sign with Faded Botanicals

Hello crafters, 

I am so pleased to introduce you to the latest addition to the STAMPlorations line-up: The Artistic Crafter's Collage Paper Anthology, vol. 1, a collection of 9 collage paper packs each with a different theme. I have been playing with the Faded Botanicals featuring Soft Victorian florals, which you can get at a 30% discount within the Botanical maker's trio until the official release on the 15th of March.

 

First up is a tower card:

I sized my card so I could use dies to cut the panels. It is simple to make with 1 piece of cardstock 6"1/2 wide by 5"1/4, score at 1", 2", 3" and 4" to make the tower shape. 

3 panels from cardstock cut with the widest of the rectangles in the Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies set, using the size down to cut the paper.

For the small side of the tower I used the narrow rectangle die to cut the paper. 

One of the panel is reserved for the message, which I stamped with the Happy birthday from the A Snarky Birthday To You set, chosen for its small size.

I added a rose stamped in colour from the Wooded stamp set. 

The card folds flat at 5"1/2 wide by 5"1/4 tall which doesn't fit a standard envelope but I don't mind  making a custom envelope. 

For a quick video of all sides of the card visit my Instagram. 

My second project is a door sign, since I thought this paper would lend itself to image transfer. I wasn't disappointed!

To make this I applied gel medium to my wooden substrate and placed the paper face down on it smoothing it as much as I could to ensure best adhesion. 

When dry the white paper layer is removed by wetting and rubbing. Fingers are best in the latter stages to avoid rubbing the design as well as the white! I had to retouch the centre of my flower after too vigorous rubbing... but it all adds to the Vintage/distressed look.

I couldn't bring myself to cover the background and added only a quote from the Art Is stamp set mounted on foam pads over a piece of lace.

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Love these new collage papers from @stamplorations? 🎨 The Anthology is now available in Project Trios so you can grab the vibe that fits your style for just $21!
✨ THE ART JOURNALER: Love grit & type? Get the Essentials Trio.
✨ THE STORYTELLER: Love vintage & travel? Get the Heritage Trio.
✨ THE BOTANICAL MAKER: Love florals & patterns? Get the Botanical Trio.
Everything is IN STOCK and shipping now! No more pre-orders. Grab yours at stamplorations.com 📦

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   

Time for Coffee

Hello crafters, 

New month, new challenge at STAMPlorations, anything goes, any type of project, any style, just remember you need to use stamps (unless using exclusively STAMPLorations products).

I couldn't resist using some of the new papers released by STAMPLorations and stamped on a piece of Faded Botanicals to make a pretty mug:

I tweaked the colours with Distress Crayons to make the butterfly pop.

The mug and sentiment are from the After Coffee set stamped with Versafine in blue and fussy cut. I added gel pen on the handle and top and bottom where the china would be white.

Simply matted on cardstock die-cuts with all 3 of the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies

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If you missed out on ordering the whole Anthology paper collection during the pre-release, no fear as you can grab a Project Trio Bundle TODAY for just $21! 💸  That’s 3 full packs (45 sheets!) curated by project type: Art Journaling, Vintage Storytelling, or Botanical Bliss. Ships immediately! Get them before the launch on the 15th of March when you can buy buy the Faded Botanicals pack individually as well as all other paper packs.

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Hop on over to the STAMPlorations™ Blog to check what my teamies' inspiration makes and link up your  creations! There are prizes to be won....

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the The Outlawz Twisted challenge
   

Inlaid die-cuts technique

Hello crafters, 

February being a short month, there is less than 2 weeks to enter the STAMPlorations challenge!

To inspire you I made this card, no stamping involved...

Dies:
Bloomdala Bliss: Felicity Dies

CUTploration phrase - Art Happens

Corner Chomper

I die-cut each Mandala die on a different colour of cardstock and also cut them in the pink layer to get my mandalas inlaid. 

As the Mandala in the middle is overlapped I replaced it in the pink card and die-cut it with the other 2 dies.

Finally I glued the pink cardstock to the base and the mandalas each in their respective slots.

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If my card is not spurring you into action, don't forget there are prizes to be won....

All details and link up are on the STAMPlorations blog  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge

   

Creating Drama with Gilding Flakes

Hello crafters, 

New month, new challenge at STAMPlorations, anything goes, any type of project, any style, just remember you need to use stamps (unless using exclusively STAMPLorations products).

I went for an easy card where the drama is in the medium I used:

Supplies:

Everyday Sentiments

Dragonfly Cover Plate

Gilding Flakes 

Double sided sheets

Gems

I die-cut the dragonfly from black cardstock and layered it on top of a card prepared with double sided tape.

Using a brush and gilding flakes in various colours I coloured the negative space of the die-cut, trying to get the dragonfly itself as smooth as possible and one colour only.

To finish. I added the Birthday sentiment die-cut and foiled.

A look at the shine:

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Hop on over to the STAMPlorations™ Blog and check what my teamies' inspiration makes and link up your  creations! There are prizes to be won....

- a discount code worth $25 chosen by a STAMPgirl from entries that use STAMPlorations products 

- and a $10 discount code for a randomly selected entries (need not feature a STAMP product)

(discount codes apply to shipping & products) 

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

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Addicted to stamps & more challenge

New Card Fronts from Stamplorations

Hello crafters, 

If you missed the news, after a long pause STAMPlorations is back in business and new products have been released this week: 14 new card fronts are available on the store here.

I have been playing with the Vintage Roses set:

 

I like those images so much I would be happy to use them as is, even as postcards since the cardstock is heavy enough. But, if you so desire, you can make them your own in so many different ways... A few ideas: 

- add glitter, foiling or embossing accents

- add small die-cuts (I was thinking bees or lady birds for the roses)

- add stamping or stencilling

- cut them up 

- use the inlay technique

and more...

For my first card I decided to add glitter (Tim Holtz Distress Rock Candy) to the rose:

I added a sentiment word and embossed it with Wow! EP in Violet Aurora (WS419X) and when that didn't show up so well against the card front I embossed on top with Ray of Sunshine (WS416R). And then, because it still didn't show up that well, I added a black shadow with another die-cut offset from the embossed one.

I tried to capture the glitter and the shine in these photos: 

 

My second card follows my current obsession with doors... I visualised a door opening to a rose garden full of morning dew...

For this card front I added dew drops on flowers with liquid glass and nothing else...
For the door mouldings I used some of the dies in the Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies set, adding doorknobs made of Enamel Accents (Ranger). 

 
Finally, I found the courage to take my scissors to my last card front... 

It's not because the card front is a rectangle that you cannot use it as a square, circle etc.. or cut it in many pieces... I am quite partial to the square format so that is what I did and used the "waste" to make a matching tag.

All the embellishment is in the frames created. I made them so that I would lose only a very small margin of the image.

In conclusion, if the Card Fronts are a godsend for quick cards "as is", don't let that stop you from getting creative with them! And if Vintage Roses is not your thing there are many different styles on offer and at least one is bound to tempt you.

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Leave a comment on this post, my teamie's post and the STAMPlorations blog for a chance to win either the Vintage Roses or the Touch of Spring sets. 

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

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   

     

STAMPlorations challenge is back!

Hello crafters, it is with great pleasure I welcome you to our new STAMPlorations challenge. This is a monthly challenge with an Anything Goes theme and I hope lots of you will join in. To inspire you I made this card:

My base is Neenah Kraft cardstock and I cut it with the largest die of the  Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies.

I then stamped once directly on the base panel and once on white cardstock one of the design of the Coffee To Go: Fall and Winter stamp set with the cup itself in grey-ish ink.

I used pencils for the colouring.
Finally the sentiment is from the stamp set Thank You Coffee, embossed with Wow! EP in Vanilla.

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Hop on over to the STAMPlorations™ Blog and check my teamies' inspiration makes and link up your  creations! There are prizes to be won....

- a discount code worth $25 chosen by a STAMPgirl from entries that use STAMPlorations products

- and a $10 discount code for a randomly selected entry (need not feature a STAMPlorations product)

(discount codes apply to shipping & products)

Do check your entry abide by the rules on STAMPlorations blog here

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

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, 

                                                          Stamping Sensations, and The Outlawz Twisted (my inspiration

                                                          song is "Coffee & Friends") challenges

     

Mini tag book

The last 2 weeks I have been following the tutorials published for the Fodder Challenge #3. You can still register (it's free) to access the tutorials until the 4th of August, after which they will form part of their next Fodder school lessons.

This project is using the tutorial no 9 by  @meganquinlanstudio and some of the items I made in lesson 1.

Inside pages:

With the tags out of the pocket pages:

Quite an easy project and I thoroughly enjoyed using "old" stamps to decorate it, mostly STAMPlorations but also Rubber Dance (front cover) and Polkadoodles (Back cover) as well as a Unity sentiment (centre tag).

I had hoped the Fodder Challenge would help kick my creativity back into action and spur me into crafting and yes, it did that and took me out of my comfort zone too! Well worth doing, even if "fodder" is not your go to style of crafting.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts and SSS Wednesday challenges

Winter sentiment

No this is not an old post... Untypically for me I have started Christmas crafting early... well last year I hardly had any time to craft, resorting to actually BUYING some cards! 

This card fits our Country View Challenge blog where the theme is "Be Sentimental" (not just romance but any sentiment, phrase or inspirational quote): 

I just had to test some of the supplies I grabbed during the fabulous Advent Calendar sales at Country View Crafts (if you've never heard of it before, Susan does a special offer from the 1st to the 24th of December). 
I die-cut the Paper Panda Craft Die - Meadow Frame (Creative Expressions) and used the inside oval as a shield to my brushos when I created the background. The paper I used for the die-cut is a specialty Self adhesive paper, thin enough that it will die-cut without too many passes. This is a game changer for these detailed dies and at less than £10 for 25 sheets a bargain to boot! 
When that dried I simply stamped the Sentiment (STAMPlorations) in Versafine Black. 

Then I peeled off the backing of my die-cut and applied to the background before sticking both onto my base card. 
I am so pleased the stamp fits so well in that frame and I am planning a series so I will not be caught out without hand made cards next Christmas... 

Over to you now, visit the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration, the DT posts every other day for the first 3 weeks. and join us by linking  your project here for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop, just make sure you follow the rules!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts (I love playing with new supplies...),   

  Stamping Sensations and SSS Wednesday challenges                                

In the stars

This is a post I didn't think I would be able to write following a family bereavement, but, serendipity played its hand and here is a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge. 

As I thought about the theme, it seemed fitting. Souls are often referred as stars in the sky and I took it as a sign. 

I used a Paper Artsy star stamp (JM06), the Art Marks and Noteworthy 2 stamps sets, both by STAMPlorations, to create the sentiment. All were stamped and embossed with white EP. 

For added colour I applied some Versamark with a sponge on top of the stars and added mica powders, in different colours. Here's the shine shot: 

Do enter the Country View Challenge with a starry make of your own for the chance to win a £ 20 voucher to the online shop but be quick there is only a week left...  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the challenge

Thursday Throwback - Stencils and powders

Welcome to my second Thursday Throwback posts on the STAMPlorations blog. 
Here are my takes on Shirley's card. 

Card 1 supplies;  Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies and ARTplorations stencil Senecio 1 

Card 2: same as before: Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies and ARTplorations stencil Senecio 1 

Card 3: Beyond the Trees – ARTplorations Slimline stencil and For the Birds Dies - CUTplorations. 

Do hop onto the STAMPlorations blog for the full details.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield