After-Hours Ink & Flowers

STAMPlorations July Stamps Spotlight Week- DAY 5

Today is the last day of the July Stamp Spotlight at STAMPlorations.

With the Spotlight on FRAMES AND FLOWERS

I enjoyed creating a floral background with the tiny flowers, deigned by my STAMPlorations Teamie DEEPTI:). The sentiment is from FOND EXPRESSIONS 2.

Here is an other card.

Simple masking on the lower half of the card base allowed me to stamp a "scalloped border" from the stitched circle frame. This technique would work with all tree frames in the set!

I just LOVE the MANY tiny flower images in Frames and Flowers ..and the uber SWEET butterflies:)))

Hope you have enjoyed the week of SPOTLIGHTS:)

Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here.

Prizes:

FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate

Freshly Made Sketches #200- Asymmetry

I'm very late with the MFT Asymmetry homework, but inspiration hit me only this afternoon when I saw the Freshly Made Sketches #200.
Here's my card using two MFT classic sets: Pretty Poppies and Clearly Sentimental about Audrey Hepburn

Clear Wink of Stella on the PINKS:))

Linking up to

FMS#200

Summer School – It’s Your Turn to Learn: Symmetry/Asymmetry

Thanks for stopping by!

LauraJane:)

STAMPlorations July Stamps Spotlight Week -Day 3

Hello:) I'm SUPER excited to be a part of STAMPlorations July Stamps Spotlight Week- DAY 3

Here are two cards using the new stamp set :

FOND EXPRESSIONS 2

Check out what the rest of the team made!

You'll find links to all our projects here.

Prizes:

FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win the stamp set featured for the day.
ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.

Thanks for stopping by

LauraJane:)

Stamplorations

STRETCH a STENCIL : My STAMPlorations August Sketch challenge

While paying with a stencil to make This card for Becca. I came across an idea/question.

CAN you STRETCH a STENCIL???

I think I did using :

Vintage Dresses - from ARTplorations Stencil as a TULIP:)

It's like an "I SPY"...can you see something that is really meant to be something else!

Here is the card.

I used the mask from the stencil,(it is the skirt from the stencil and it comes with 2 different large "skirt" shapes)
inked it up and spritzed with water,
then placed it on the cardstock.
Lifted it up
inked the other mask in a different color
repeated the process.
There is a SLIM mask from the stencil that I used for the stem...inked in greens.
Then I placed the stencil over the TULIP and stamped a sentiment through the stencil opening.

Sentiments from STAMPlorations:
Blooming Buds

Party Time

I used the Sketch from STAMPlorations to STRETCH my Stencil for this card.

You can play along at STAMPlorations Here and Here.

Players can now link up to 6 entries.
Players can enter a project based on the theme, the sketch, or both.
Non-STAMPlorations products on projects are OK

Prizes:

Winner voted by the design team receives a $15 gift certificate or choice of two (2) standard-size (5x7) ARTplorations stencils if her project has STAMPlorations products; if the winning project doesn't have a STAMPlorations product, winner receives a $10 gift certificate or choice of one (1) standard-size (5x7) ARTplorations stencil.
Top picks voted by the design team each receive a $5 gift certificate or choice 2 digis
1 winner randomly drawn from entries that have STAMPlorations products (stamps and/or stencils) receives a stamp & stencil pack or $10 gift certificate
Winner and top picks invited to be guest designers in the October Challenge.

Check out the Guest Designers for this month
KT Fit Kitty

Barbara Roe

Annie

Hope you have a chance to play along!

Thanks for stopping by,

LauraJane:)

First impressions: Altenew Watercolor Wonders

Good Friday to ya!
I simply swooned when I first saw the images in the Altenew Watercolor Wonders set...so many possibilities for making impressionistic blooms!
When the set arrived in the mail I felt intimidated and just looked at it for over a week:/ I hate when that happens.
But, last night I dove in, threw caution to the wind and stamped at will!
It was rewarding to see what came from each layer. And in the end I was pleased with the outcome.

Here are two cards I made from the reckless, care-free stamping session:)

I started with more Summery colors.

And ended with Autumnal bliss!

I used an image from Golden Garden for the background panel.

I encourage you to to get those stamp sets out that are sitting there intimidating you.

and JUST start Playing!

Have a GREAT weekend!

LauraJane:)

Both cards are embellished with various sequins,

border dies, and Clear Wink of Stella,

Linking up to Virginia's View Challenge #17

The colors and layers of the second card were inspired by this month's challenge at Altenew: Places Abroad, United Kingdom

****I am part of Altenew's affiliate program. Which means I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you every time you click through and purchase product(s) linked in this post. Thank you for your support!

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You can also find me:
Instagram @mammacooksalot
YouTube: Mamma LauraJane.

MFT Summer School – It’s Your Turn to Learn: Repetition

School is always in session at our house in one shape or form.

If you quit learning,

You quit living,

MFT's Summer School is MY kind of learning:)

Repetition is the topic I focused on for today's card. The MISTI really helped!

I used one of the few MFT sets that I own....Pretty Poppies.

The black center stamp is from Clearly Besotted Brushed Poppies.

After stamping the poppies I used Inktense pencils to color each bloom.

Karin's card here, really inspired me to play along:) But I must say, her card has a certain Whimsy that is missing in mine. The movement/placement of the blooms has something to do with it.

Thanks for stopping by!

LauraJane:)

The Progression of the Embellishments

Today's card shows how I took a simple card and added embellishments. After all, the challenge at Virginia's View is on that very thing..EMBELLISHMENTS. Something I often over look, and more often than not, OVER-DO when I try to add them to my cards. HA!

First of all, I'm playing with this Clearly Besotted set I just purchased..and cut to pieces. Every image in the set is now an individual stamp in itself.
For those of you who do not own the set, there are only 8 separate stamps in it's original state. My set now has 19.:))
I also used the BE-YOU-TIFUL die from ESSENTIALS BY ELLEN.
The color palette is from the Challenge at the Pinterest Inspired Challenge.

I Simply stamped a bouquet, then die-cut the BE-YOU-TIFUL plus in 4 layers of black cardstock and glued it back into place.

Then I added some Clear Wink of Stella on the BE-YOU-TIFUL and placed several Sequins.

Then splattered some SILVER wink of STELLA and nestled a few knots of twine behind the die.

I KNOW I like the First CLEAN version best...not sure about each of the other added Embellishments...Do you have a FAVE?

Thanks for stopping by!

LauraJane:)

Adding this to the Challenge over at Ellen Hutson, August Mix It Up Challenge with Clearly Besotted. There is a $50 gift card up for grabs..By the way, I'm in LOVE with the way Ellen's dies are packaged:)) magnets and super sturdy plastic envelope.

Linking to Virginia's View Challenge #17

Linking to Pinterest Inspired Challenge #1

STAMPlorations August challenge: STAMPS and WATERCOLOR

There's a new THEME challenge this month at STAMPlorations; STAMPS and WATERCOLOR.

Here's my card using:

Happy Sunflower and Bloom Sketches

Watercoloring with ZIG Clean Color markers.

You can play along at STAMPlorations Here and Here.

Players can now link up to 6 entries.
Players can enter a project based on the theme, the sketch, or both.
Non-STAMPlorations products on projects are OK

Prizes:

Winner voted by the design team receives a $15 gift certificate or choice of two (2) standard-size (5x7) ARTplorations stencils if her project has STAMPlorations products; if the winning project doesn't have a STAMPlorations product, winner receives a $10 gift certificate or choice of one (1) standard-size (5x7) ARTplorations stencil.
Top picks voted by the design team each receive a $5 gift certificate or choice 2 digis
1 winner randomly drawn from entries that have STAMPlorations products (stamps and/or stencils) receives a stamp & stencil pack or $10 gift certificate
Winner and top picks invited to be guest designers in the October Challenge.

Visit the STAMPlorations blog to check out other talented DT's creations.

Check out the Guest Designers for this month too.

Robyn Oliver

Karola/InvisiblePinkCards

Irma Tirza

Hope you have a chance to play along!

I'm linking this to:
The First Pinterest Inspired Challenge

I was saved by the color pallet in this photo...some days a good PIN can accomplish so much:)

Thanks for stopping by,

LauraJane:)

Deepti's Lotus Love

STAMPlorations is having a mini release of Deepti's LOTUS LOVE stamp set.

The possibilities are endless with this set:)

here is the first card I created:

I stamped the LOTUS image in Khaki on Distress water color paper
fussy cut and placed a mask over the flower
Stamped the stem in Khaki as well
used some liquid mask on that and let dry.
Wet the background with clean water and colored with ZIG markers
here are the ZIG colors I used

Once the background was dry I inked up various Distressed Floral Swirls with the markers and stamped over the masks
Stamped the sentiment in black
Highlighted the bloom with Clear Wink of Stella

There is a bit of shimmer! So very hard to photograph:)

Here is the set and another card I created by stamping/masking several of the images and coloring with zig markers.

How the mini release hop works:

Comment on this post.
Visit the designers' blogs and comment on their featured project(s).
Commenting closes on Friday, August 7, 11:55 p.m. Pacific (GMT-7).
We'll randomly select a winner of the stamp set from comments left on all the blogs and announce it on Sunday, August 9.

click HERE to find all the stops in the hop for your chance to win this set.

Want to increase your chances of winning?

Share the link to this blog post on your Facebook status. Make sure to tag your post with #lotuslove and #stamplorations
When you visit the designers' blog posts, pin their cards to your Pinterest board. Again, make sure to tag your pins with #lotuslove and#stamplorations
Leave a second comment on this blog post telling us that you've done the above (include a link to your FB profile/page and/or Pinterest board).

Until August 12(one week), Lotus Love is available at 10% off ($10.80 instead of $12)

Thanks for stopping by!

LauraJane:)

Muse: ChristmasVisions 12: Marika Rahtu

I simply could not miss playing at the Muse: ChristmasVisions 12 this week, as the MUSE is the ever so delightful MARIKA RAHTU! You all know how influential her coloring videos have been for me:) It was a pleasure to get some of my Purple Onion Stamps out and create a scene in the corner:)
Here is my card: