commissioned cards

And yet more commissioned cards. 

Requested for a policeman getting his third star ...

And I loved this one. Got the request for a "Traufe" card - Trauung + Taufe (marriage + baptism) card. And the couple loves Dumbo. OMG. That stumped me for awhile. Nothing against Dumbo, but for the life of me I could not get a wedding card and Dumbo combined in one design idea that I felt comfortable with.

I searched all my supplies (for two hours) trying to find inspiration and these Top Dog Die elephants did the trick. An elegant elephant wedding card - whoddathunk? The white and gold did the trick. And pleased my customer.

STAMPlorations cover plate

Waffle Flower Tower Alpha die

Top Dog elephant die

Have a great weekend! 

congratulations with hero arts peony

You know the "problem". So much NBUS accumulated and not enough time to try it all out. I took some time to play with new-to-me goodies this weekend and these two cards happened.

Are you loving all the strips of colored CS we're seeing lately in card designs too? Well after I'd given my dollar store (Action) rainbow die a run I had to continue with more Copic colored strips.

 Action Deutschland die

Hero Arts Birthday Hugs and Kisses stamp

Copics

I die cut all the pieces from white CS. Copic colored a few of them with pastel colors and added a heat embossed secondary sentiment. A couple sequins for sparkle and this should make some little birthday girl happy.

Hero Arts Birthday Peonies stamp

Copics

This congratulatory card is off to a gal who just finished her bachelor's degree. Love the simplicity.

Come by tomorrow for some birthday celebrations...

I'm taking these creations to:

A Blog named Hero - October

Seize the Birthday - For Kids

The Flower Challenge - CAS

spotlight on easy peasy summer design

OK. This might just be my very favorite card design this summer. You just can't beat a rainbow accompanied by lotsa white space and dramatic black.

OK, add a unicorn and maybe you beat it ;)

I'm over on the STAMP blog with a tutorial for this card.

I'm taking this to:
SSS Wednesday - AG
Pinspirational - #242

AAA Cards - One Corner

STAMPlorations inspiration #219

Welcome to another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team. This is a pretty special month for us. Can you believe STAMPlorations is already turning 6 years old?!?!?

This month we would normally be celebrating that amazingness, but with the unexpected passing of Shery's father we are postponing the partying for a bit.

Nevertheless, Shery has put together a giant selection of products in the store for a 6th Birthday Sale. Throughout the month of June, products in the 6th Birthday section are 30% off instantly + with my STAMPGIRLMARIA code, you actually get up to 50% off!

  

So I've used a couple products from that sale section today. Ready?

 STAMPlorations Tropical Drink Large stamp

 STAMPlorations Prosit die
Altenew watercolors

I think June is a good time for blue skies and tropical drinks at the pool. Tequila Sunrise anyone?  Today's cardbase was first-generation stamped with Tumbled Glass DOX ink and an old multi-square rubber stamp I own. (It didn't really show the texture as I'd hoped so I second-generation stamped it and made this card you may have seen a few days ago.)

I wasn't sure about coloring over the DOX area. I heat embossed the cocktail and then using a wet brush tried to remove the blue color from within the glass image. Didn't work.

So instead I just watercolored over it. Used some white to tone down the blue at the top of the cocktail. Hope your brain sees the image and thinks "cocktail" without having to look too closely at it ;)

If you're interested, I've used the Prosit set in this post from our 4th Birthday too.

You could be one of 6 to win yourself a $25 GC to the store by leaving a comment on this month's inspiration posts. Check out today's post here. Thanks for looking.

I'm joining the fun at:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Time Out  - Challenge (I just love this inspiration photo)

STAMPlorations summer release - word dies

Welcome to the last day of the STAMPlorations Summer Release. Today it's all about four new word dies from Shery Russ.

First I paired them up with a stencil...

Fantastic word die

Incredible word die

Brilliant word die

You word die

Leaf Prints stencil

Distress Ink

craft foam

After I'd taped down the stencil, leaving a slight masked frame around the edges, I used a Sharpie to trace a few of the leaves. Then I used sponge daubers to apply Festive Berries, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed and Cracked Pistachio inks.

I die cut "you" from the card front and craft foam. Adhered the white word die cuts. Then adhered the "camouflaged" you.

For my next card, I die cut "bravo" from post it tape and dabbed the same DI colors around it. First the yellow, then orange, then red... If you're thinking the Cracked Pistacio is a bit "off", you're right. Although I tried to wipe off the DI from the mask each time, after I'd done the red, a bit of it transferred to the green area. Note to self: Next time cut two masks, one for warm, one for cool tones ;)

Bravo word die
Purrfectly Pawsome stamp
Distress Inks

white embossing powder

Using colored pencils, I added a bit more color to the kitty so he'd pop off the BG a bit.

Did you see how I used the Bravo die stacked to hang my vines on this card?

Shery's offering prizes as always. Leave comments by July 23 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running - there's a $25 GC and also your choice of a stamp set and word die from this release up for grabs!  Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Happy Little Stampers - July AG with Dies

STAMPlorations inspiration #160

Welcome to another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team where the team members feature stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Shery's Shery Russ Designs stamps. Her stamps are 15% off this week  - with an extra 20% off when you use my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA !!!

Here's the last of my "Urban Tribe"inspiration post projects using this image from my Pinterest inspiration board. That bold necklace in the lower left corner caught my eye.

image source

Stamped a sentiment from one of my most used sets Party Time as a background. To capture the essence of the necklace I trimmed strips of scrap CS, adhered them to scrap paper and die cut Congrats. In order for it to stand out from the busy BG, I adhered it to a strip of black CS cut slightly thinner than the die cut itself.

Wanna see more with the sentiments ... check out this cool card here.
Here is another card using the Congrats.

Remember, you could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on the January inspiration posts. Check out today's post here. So happy you stopped by :)

I'm stopping in at:
Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies
Daring Cardmakers - B/W with a Pop
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Add a sentiment
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - week 317 (this card is all about snippets!)

STAMPlorations inspiration #158

It's time again  for a Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team where the team members feature stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Becca's Big Grins stamps.Her stamps are 15% off this week  - with an extra 20% off when you use my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA !!!

Like I mentioned last week, this time each year I like to take a look at the trends they're predicting. In my surfing I discovered "Urban Tribe". So this month I'm creating my inspiration post projects using this image from my Pinterest inspiration board. See that image top right?

image source

I love the big sketched heart in Funny Kinda Love. I stamped it on black CS and using a flower stem stamp I repeatedly stamped lines with Distress Oxides. Gave it a spritz of water, let it dry and then stamped some more lines. I love the chalky/neon result.

Added some stamped hearts and some die cut from the scraps. Some scattered sequins were the finishing touch to this congratulations card.

If you're looking for more inspiration for Valentines Day ... I had more fun with this set in this post ...

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on the January inspiration posts. Check out today's post here. So happy you stopped by :)

I'm playing at:
Sweet Stampers - Anything Goes
Stempelkueche - #85 Anything Goes

AAA Cards - Start of Something New - I think an engagement card qualifies

extreme cas baby card again

Ready for another extreme CAS baby card? This time it's one for the boys.

Went with the trendy, block of letters style and used a fantastic alpha stamp, Emmett from Studio Calico. Neon pigment ink. And a rubber ducky from Klartext Karten.

See ya next week for lots of fun with the STAMPlorations Christmas release. Hope you're ready for some Christmas in August ;)

extreme cas baby card

Ready for an extreme CAS baby card? Don't blink or you might miss it.

Went with the trendy, block of letters style and used a fantastic alpha stamp, Emmett from Studio Calico. Neon pigment ink. And a rubber ducky from Klartext Karten.

See ya tomorrow!

STAMPlorations 4th birthday blog hop - day 1

There's a humongojumbo party going on this week to celebrate four years of STAMPlorations! Congratulations, Shery, on where you've taken STAMPlorations over the past four years. And thanks to Kat for letting you do it ;)  I'm honored to have been around for the ride.

In celebration of Birthday #4 Shery has created a humongojumbo release. And a humongojumbo blog hop (OK, I'll stop now ;) to show you all the goodies (see 'em in that graphic?) at work.

I've got a couple projects to share with you today, so let's get to it.

You may have seen my Spotlight about using kids' markers to color your stamps. Well I've done that again today, this time with a cool, new sentiment stamp, Celebration Word....

I colored each letter of the stamp with random colors of waterbased markers, spritzed it and stamped it onto a white cardbase. I spritzed it again and stamped it again and got this next one which I think would work for a baby card, don't you? There's a matching die, BTW!

Then I had some fun creating a party on a card cuz I couldn't wait to showcase this Prosit Word die. It happens to be one of my very favorite words ;) And BTW, it also comes in stamp form!

I tried out a combo of watercolors and Copic markers as I'd seen Kelly L. do in this video. With all those champagne glasses from Party Mates I had to add lots of champagne bubbles, right? Including sparkly golden ones.

There's so much eye candy coming at you over at STAMPlorations this week. Believe me, you won't want to miss it all.

Shery's offering all products in the store at 15% off during the celebration - until July 7. Add my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for an additional 20% off!

 And what's a birthday celebration without presents? You know how generous Shery is. There will be gift certificates. And grab bags. You might even win your Wishlist!!! How's that for fun? Help us celebrate, won't you? You can check out all the deets here.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Check out my Instagram page for a little giveaway in celebration of STAMPlorations too ;)

STAMPlorations inspiration #119

Happy Valentine's Day!

And welcome to Tuesday's inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team! As you know, we're all featuring stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Becca's Big Grins stamps. From now until Feb 20 you can get most of Big Grins stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store!

It's Gelli plate print time here on the blog. Ready for a Valentine's Day inspired card using Funny Kinda Love?

I started with the stamp set and a print with Valentine-y acrylic paint colors. Since I need a card for a young couple that just got engaged I opted for the image and the "congrats" sentiment. I heat embossed the image white onto red CS. I heat embossed the sentiment (and the heart) red onto a scrap of the Gelli print. Was originally going to put the sentiment onto white CS but then liked the idea of it blending better into the BG, although still providing a bit of dimension. Not too much though, so it wouldn't compete with the image of the couple! I fussy cut both and adhered them. Stitched around the edges and my card was done!

And if you're interested, here is another card using Funny Kinda Love.

So from now until next Tuesday, Becca's Big Grins stamp line is 10% off. With the STAMPGIRLMARIA discount on top, now is definitely the time to pick up any of Becca's stamps on your wish list, don't you agree?

congratulations with altenew

Did you see that Addicted to CAS is celebrating their 4th birthday? Well, congratulations are in order.

I pulled out Altenew's Dodecagram cuz I love that "congratulations" sentiment in it. And proceeded to make this card.

Some purple and pink inks. With Delicata gold touches for the outlines and center and a gem in the middle. I attached my stamped panel to a pink cardbase. I was inspired by the geometric nature of the March photo - top row, middle - (just switched out the green for gold for my colors). You can choose any of the 2016 Altenew challenges this month.

And I'm taking this CAS card with sparkle to Inkspirational and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge's Anything Goes too.

Happy Sunday!

mix it up - take two

Back with another creation for the current Mix It Up at the CLASSroom over at Ellen Hutson. It's time to pair Essentials by Ellen and Neat and Tangled products. What a great match. Here's what I did.

I was inspired by the colors and layout of the Little Tangles inspiration photo.

And I'm sharing my card at Penny Black and More - Anything Goes with a Stamp.

Ready for this?... I needed a card with the following message: "Congratulations - heard you're moving up the corporate ladder." The recipient? A priest friend who is leaving his parish to take a position at the Archdiocese! Maybe I should mention he has a great sense of humor - I hope ;)

This is what I created.

Taped down my cardbase. Applied a light watercolor wash to imitate grass and sky. Used Neat and Tangled's On the Strip 2 to create the ladder. Then I masked the ladder and heat embossed some heavenly clouds using Essentials by Ellen Up the Happy. I watercolored inside the clouds with white but you can hardly see it.

I used the word die from Essentials by Ellen Zipper Panel, cut from glitter CS (heavenly) and red craft foam (thanks inspiration photo).  Didn't photograph the inside, but I wrote "heard you're moving up the" and used my Dymo labelmaker for "corporate ladder".

This card is in MI with me. Hope the priest gets as big a kick out of it as I did! Thanks for visiting today.

winnie and walter and ellen - background building

Don't curse me - I'm back again cuz I've been on a mission playing along with two of my favorite companies who are sharing the love - Winnie and Walter and Essentials by Ellen.

You can check out all the fabulous inspiration at Winnie and Walter or The Classroom blogs.

This card is for the Day 3 Challenge of background building as well as the Day 5 Challenge  to use this gorgeous mood board.

Background building. One of my favorite things to do. But the last of my creations for Share the Love cuz... which stamp(s) to use???  And then the tiny little Sparkle set fell out of my pile of WW lovelies and voila! See that classy setup in the lower left corner? Gave me all the inspiration I needed to make this card.

I did draw myself guidelines with a pencil, but this image makes lining things up (even without a MISTI!) very easy. Just added a touch of Delicata gold pigment ink to the centers of the sparkles. For more sparkle ;) I LOVE the retro feel I get from this design. (Why does it give me a retro vibe?!?!?)

The icing on the cake is the die cut "congrats" from Essentials by Ellen Zipper Panel. I cut it once from white CS I'd swiped with gold ink and then topped it offset with a black one.

I'm sharing this card at Craft Stamper, Take it Make it for July.

At CASology.

And at CAS on Sunday where the theme is Black and White and one Color.