STAMPlorations 3rd Birthday Party - Over $200 in Prizes!

If you haven't heard yet, STAMPlorations is throwing a big shindig in honor of their 3RD BIRTHDAY!!!! 

I shared a card on day one of the blog hop, but the party is still raging on so I thought I'd pop in and join the festivities again! 

Today, I'm going to show off a card that makes me giggle hysterically. 
Actually - whenever I use the dinos from the STAMPlorations Dino Things stamp set (designed by yours truly), laughter is always quick to follow. They all just have such stinkin' cute personalities.

But first! Let's not jump the gun and get away from the blog hop details. 

As we celebrate our 3rd birthday, all orders of at least $20 ship free worldwide until July 8! Use coupon code HAPPYBIRTHDAY on checkout.
(If you're a stamp club subscriber, use your personal discount coupon code
to get free shipping on orders of at least $15.)
There are over $200 worth of prizes up for grabs!!

Whew! Now that I've done that, it's time for some seriously adorable dino-ness. 

Tell me you aren't amused right now? Haha. 

I colored up my images with a mixture of Distress Markers and watercolors and then stamped a coordinating sentiment from the same stamp set. I wanted to keep it pretty clean and let the images pop, so I just put a strip of patterned paper down at the bottom and called it a day! 

I hope you'll join in the party over at STAMPlorations and win some awesome prizes in the process! 

I also am going to party down with the following challenges:

Seize the Birthday - I'm skipping the toppings this time and just doing ATG

CAS Mix It Up - Stamping + Markers (distress markers) + your choice (watercolors)

Cardz 4 Guyz - Clean and Simple

  

Glitter and Feathers and Gems - Oh My! Mixed Media Card Challenge

We are getting alllllll sorts of sparkly up at The Mixed Media Card Challenge this month and boy do I every have some sparkly goodness to flash your way!

You may have already guessed that our theme for the month is Sparkle along with the option of including Gems.

I was in the mood to make some mixed media backgrounds earlier this week and this card showcases a quick and easy, but classy and fab-o mixed media background that anyone can achieve. 

I started by sponging Fired Brick Distress Inks onto a piece of cardstock, putting a heavier coat on around the edges to create a little vignette action. 

Once I was satisfied with my sponging, I used a Polka Dot stencil and a wet paper towel and lifted some of the ink off the paper to create layers of visual interest. 

Then I stamped another circular-shaped grungy stamp randomly across the background. 

Lastly, I added some gold texture paste over through a smaller polka dot stencil and then let it air dry. 

These are some examples using the exact same techniques but it different colors and stencil variations. 

When creating a cohesive mixed media design, I really like to use one shape (in this case a circle) repetitively throughout the design in various shapes and sizes. 

Since I used polka dotted stencils and circular stamps, I carried the circle shapes into the foreground by dry embossing part of my sentiment panel with a polka dotted embossing folder and then gluing glitter on the raised areas. 

 

Since the theme was sparkle, I added glitter to some gold feathers, and then added gold gemstones, too. I put some burgundy raffia behind my feathers to give some contrast to the design. So pretty! 

I'm going to send my sparkly beauty over to play along in the following challenges:
Craft Stamper - Take It Make It - Take a Stamp
Just Add Ink - Just Add S (for Sparkle, Sponging, Stamping)
Creative Artiste Challenge - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Happy Birthday STAMPlorations!!

I love a good birthday and there is CERTAINLY one to celebrate today! 

STAMPlorations is turning 3!!! Wooooo!!!

As we celebrate our 3rd birthday, all orders of at least $20 ship free worldwide until July 8! Use coupon code HAPPYBIRTHDAY on checkout.
(If you're a stamp club subscriber, use your personal discount coupon code
to get free shipping on orders of at least $15.)

Now I know you all know already how much I love STAMPlorations, but I just want to gush a little bit about them. 

I joined the design team a year-and-a-half ago. I can't believe how fast the time has gone - but you know what they say about time flying when you're having fun. 

STAMPlorations is a little family company. Shery, the owner, is the very sweetest person I have ever met. She truly cares about her team and we truly care about her. It's so amazing "working" for a company that really thinks about their customers and their team. 

When I think about all the opportunities I've been given through STAMPlorations, I get a little teary-eyed. So I am SOOOO happy to be celebrating their birthday with them and hope YOU will come celebrate with us! 

Here is the card I made with the new Kathryn's Big Wishes stamp set: 

Look at all that bright spendorousness (it's a word if I say it is)!! 

AAAAaaaand I had to add a little bit of shimmer, too. 

I hope you'll come join in the 7-day birthday festivities!! 

Simply link up a birthday-themed project inspired by our moodboard for your chance to win one of over 200 prizes!!!

Link up at the STAMPlorations blog and while you're there, check out the latest product release - thin dies from the CUTplorations line! OOOOOOoooo 

I'm also going to play along in some fun challenges, myself! 

CASology - ROW

Crafting When We Can - Any Occasion 

Baseball Father's Day Card

Father's Day is quickly approaching and I've been getting some orders from clients that have definitely made me stretch my creative muscles with "man cards". 

One of my clients asked for a baseball themed card. Since I didn't have any baseball stamps in my stash, it was time to get crafty. 

I want to warn you, this card is HIGHLY technical and may not be able to be accomplished by the average card maker. 

Step one: Use a paper plate and a pen to trace a curved line

Can you hear me giggling now? hehe HIGHLY technical. 

Once I had the perfect curvature traced, I cut it out with some scissors. 

Next, I used some little sketchy chevron shapes from the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Gruge set to emboss the read threading on my "baseball" 

I completed the look with a sentiment from the BOLD SENTIMENTS: Hashtag Authentic set and stamped DAD with the Sketchy Alphabet set.

Taaaadaaaa! I'm quite pleased with it. 

This is a good time to tell you that we're midway through the month at the STAMPlorations Theme and Sketch challenge and you should go play. You can use either the sketch, or the theme, OR both! So many options! 

 

I'm also going to play along in some of the other fun challenges going on in the blogosphere including:

 

CASology - Masculine theme

 The Male Room - Father's Day

Blogs For Boobies - Check it Out!

Today, I'm showcasing a set of cards I made in honor of a cause that affects 1 in 8 women: Breast cancer. 

I'm one of over 60 bloggers who were invited to participate in a hop that raises awareness and funds for breast cancer. It's called Blogs 4 Boobies and is the brainchild of the amazing Skipping Stones Designs stamp company.

 

Now, to me breast cancer isn't about the boobies (although it's a fun word to say). It's about the women (and men) behind the disease. Over 40,000 women will die in the U.S. this year because of breast cancer. 

So a group of bloggers got together and decided to do a Hop that will raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

I'll be auctioning off a set of 3 cards. 

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Want to help raise money for this awesome cause?!

Here's how the auction works:

Bid Process Very easy!

To my  blog visitors and followers make a bid, for the card set, in the comment section of this  blog post. Bidding starts at $5.  Put your email address next to the bid as a way of "signing it" or authenticating the bid. 

Winner Process

The winning bidder will receive a paypal invoice from Skipping Stones Designs aka Heather Engebretson and she will collect the money. All of which will be donated on July 1, 2016. to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Shipping Process

Once the winning bidder pays via PayPal  and I receive notice from Skipping Stones Design I will ship your Card Set to  you. I will ship anywhere in the world!

BIDDING WILL END 6/12/16

Now get to hopping! Here's today's amazing lineup:

Skipping Stones Design >> Susie Bentz >> Penny Cunnigham Ward >> Nazeema Thompson >> Chris Dayton  >> Becca Cruger <-- YOU ARE HERE  >> Mary Maison >> Kim Sherrod 

 

Little Girl Baby Stamped Card

Do you ever make a card that makes your ovaries well up with happiness?

 No? Just me? 

Today I'm showcasing a card I created for the new STAMPlorations Theme & Sketch challenge. 

It's frilly & polka dotty and full of shabby chic goodness. I stamped the little stroller from the Heaven Sent stamp set and colored it up with some Spectrum Noir markers. 

I chose to play along with the theme at STAMPlorations - which is Celebration. 

To play along, just use the theme OR the sketch OR both - so many possibilities. You can use any brand of stamp you want - and there are prizes!!

After I colored up my focal image, I added a swath of pink and girly flowers, some buttons and a crinkle ribbon from Verve that I died a little with Spun Sugar and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. 

See what I mean about those ovaries? :) 

I'm also linking this up to:
Aud Sentiments - ATG + a sentiment
Cardz 4 Galz - Vintage or Shabby Chic

Sunset Card - Mixed Media Card Challenge

SUMMER! I know that technically summer doesn't start until June 20th, but it's been soooooooo beautiful up here in the prairieland that I'm beginning to believe the calendar is wrong. Either that or I'm somehow living in a parallel universe of good weather. 

I'm talking sun-dappled, breezy days followed by evenings of rolling thunder dampening the land... ahhhhhhhh... 

But I digress! (as usual!)

Today I'm here to show you a card that was inspired by the lovely weather AND by the Mixed Media Card Challenge for this month. 

The theme this month over at Mixed Media Card Challenge is Sunset with the option of postage stamp.

I started out with grandiose plans, thinking I'd sponge a whole scene and create a masterpiece on a card. 

....Instead I scribbled....

And it was fun. 

Haha! Seriously! If you guys haven't noticed by all of my posts lately, I've been having a blast experimenting with the different things Distress Crayons can achieve. 

Normally, When I do a Distress Crayon card, I try to blend the colors together by smearing with my finger. This time, though, it seemed somehow wrong. I liked the scribbly scrawly feel of their non-blended origins.

So I left it, and used the sun die cut from Verve's Partly Cloudy set. I also stamped some "rays" with a sentiment from the coordinating Partly Cloudy stamp set and added some glittery gems going everywhere.

I topped the whole design off with Winnie and Walter's In a Word: Love die cut and stamped a sentiment from STAMPlorations Fond Expressions 2 stamp set. 


I'm also playing along with:
Shopping Our Stash - 4 elements (I'm doing Fiiiiiiiiiiire baby, with all my hot heat)\
Crafty Friends Challenge - Summertime