For Baby Boy -and a TIME OUT Reminder!

Hi guys!

Here's my reminder card for the current TIME OUT Challenges: Embossing with the optional twist of sparkle. I've made my card using the BEAUTIFUL Origami set by Altenew. This was the first time I dared to use these stamps -until this I've just been staring at them and admiring the DT inspiration at Altenew! :) 

This card was given to congratulate our new godson for his name, the Christening was last Sunday. I heat embossed the elephant several times to two different designer papers with white powder and cut the images in pieces. I've paper pieced the image using different thickness of 3d foam stickers and paper layers for extra dimension -this doesn't show too well in the photo but looks quite fancy IRL! The mother of the baby thought it was real origami so I think I achieved in faking it! I've also heat embossed the sentiment on vellum (Happiness and Joy in Finnish) and added Wink of Stella glitter pen to the elephant for sparkle. After taking the photo I noticed that the bow in my string was all over the place... And it ended up looking a lot nicer when I gave the card. :) Hope you like... And see you at TIME OUT Challenges! 

I'd like to enter:

Uniko Challenge: Sketch and Anything Goes

Fusion: Photo and Sketch
I think my card is sort of a fusion of both so I hope it qualifies! From the photo I took the white, "lacy" bg, sparkle and bow and the layout is very close to the sketch too!

STAMPlorations Spotlight: Let's Have Coffee!

I have something quite different for you today as my STAMPlorations Spotlight Project! I'm using the new VIGNETTE: Eat Drink Be Merry stamp set in this fun shaped card. I'd like you to head on over to STAMPlorations Blog and leave me your comments there -I'm sharing a photo tutorial on how to make this card. See you at STAMPlorations! 

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi guys!

We have a new sketch for you at STAMPlorations, click here and you'll be directed to the challenge post with fabulous DT inspiration! Our guest designer this time is Julie who has made a beautiful card with Christmas flowers... You don't want to miss it! By participating this sketch challenge you have a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to STAMPlorations store if you use a STAMPlorations image in addition to 

$5 gift certificate drawn between all participants.

In my DT card I've used the beautiful Christmas Flower stamp. I've colored the flowers with Copics, fuzzy cut them out and combined them with a heart doily for a simple Christmas card. This card screamed my aunt's name so I opted for a sentiment in Finnish instead of the many great Christmas sentiments we have at STAMPlorations. Do check them out! 

I hope to see you all playing along at STAMPlorations. Thanks for popping by! 

I'd like to enter my card to 

Uniko Challenge: Anything Goes

Less Is More: Jingle all the way/ Anything Christmassy

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

HI friends!

There's a new challenge for you at Inkspirational: Christmas with the optional twist of no red or green. If you choose the twist you could win this prize:

£10 Gift Card Uniko Studios

Bo Bunny die cuts

Bo Bunny rub-ons

Bo Bunny dimensional stickers

A TCW(The Crafters Workshop) stencil

3 different ribbons

I'd say it's definitely worth twisting! :) Our guest designer this week is Janet. Welcome to Inkspirational, Janet!

My DT card today is super simple but I do like it a lot. I stamped a branch image from Simon Says Stamp with black Versafine and embellished it with rhinestones that I had tinted a bit with W5 Copic -that way they went better with my embossing powder (Ranger) I used for the sentiment. The sentiment is from the same stamp set. I love the dramatic look of the designer paper I stamped on! This could maybe be a masculine Christmas card? There's glitter though... I added it with Wink of Stella pen to the stamped branch.

If you need more inspiration on Christmas cards -maybe without red or green- head on over to Inkspirational for more DT cards. The Ink girls never fail to inspire so enjoy! Happy crafting! 

Day 5 of November Stamp Release Blog Hop at STAMPlorations!

Welcome to Day 5, the last day of the November Stamp Release Blog Hop here at STAMPlorations! For complete info on our hop, including how you can win stamps, click here.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on Trendy Leaves. We'll be picking one commenter to win this set so leave a comment here and on the rest of the STAMPlorations girls' posts for a chance to win the set.

Here's my project! I used a fun technique for this one: at first you sponge a piece of card with your chosen ink colors (I used very bright HA neon inks for sponging), then you stamp your images with watermark ink and heat emboss them with clear powder... And after that you cover the whole piece with black ink (Versafine used here) and in the end wipe it off from the embossed images. Your clear embossing reveals the fun multi-colored background you created! Hope you like! Time to continue hopping now... The list of all the blog hop blogs is under the photo! Enjoy!

*** The stops in the hop*** 

STAMPlorations Blog

Debra | Deepti | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley |Vicki

Day 4 of November Stamp Release Blog Hop at STAMPlorations!

Welcome to Day 4 of the November Stamp Release Blog Hop here at STAMPlorations! For complete info on our hop, including how you can win stamps, click here.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on CityGirl, another fabulous stamp set that Shirley Bampton designed. We'll be picking one commenter to win this set so leave a comment here and on the rest of the STAMPlorations girls' posts for a chance to win the set.

Here's my project! I colored the Citygirl with Copics and added extra interest to her coat, belt and stockings with white gel pen. I also used the sentiment block for stamping a decorative border to my base card. I hope you like! :) I'll now send you to all the other blogs of the blog hop -the list of the blogs is under my card photo. Enjoy!

*** The stops in the hop*** 

STAMPlorations Blog

Debra | Deepti | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley |Vicki

New Challenge at TIME OUT!

Hi friends!
We have a new challenge for you at TIME OUT: Embossing with the Optional Twist of Shine! If you choose the twist you can win a stamp set from Avocado Arts so maybe you'll want to add some shine to your project with embossing! You could also be DT's favorite and be called to guest design for us... This time our guest designer is Lesley from Always Playing With Paper. She is not only a talented card maker and fun blogger but a challenge blog owner too -if you are not familiar with Lesley, you know where to head next! :)

In my DT card I used stamps from Avocado Arts set called Bee Thankful. I tried to make a masculine card but masculine or not, I added shine: The heat embossed cups are "colored in" with Wink of Stella glitter pen. Love that stuff! My base card shines a bit as well, it's sort of metallic silver color - this was tricky to photograph!

Our DT never fails to inspire so I hope you'll check out their creations from our challenge blog here. After that... Take some TIME OUT and craft!

Day 3 of November Stamp Release Blog Hop at STAMPlorations!

Welcome to Day 3 of the November Stamp Release Blog Hop here at STAMPlorations! For complete info on our hop, including how you can win stamps, click here.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on TYPOGRAFIA. We'll be picking one commenter to win this set so leave a comment here and on the rest of the STAMPlorations girls' posts for a chance to win the set.

And here's my project! I combined the beautiful "believe you can & you are halfway there"- sentiment (that's something that's absolutely true by the way!) with the new Trendy Leaves set, also part of our new release. I stamped the leaves with 2 tones of inks in both leaves ( you can see the leaves are a bit darker from the tips) and heat embossed the sentiment with clear powder after stamping it with black Versafine -this technique gives beautiful gloss to the sentiment. 

I'd like to send you to the other blog hop blogs now! Enjoy hopping!

*** The stops in the hop*** 

STAMPlorations Blog

Debra | Deepti | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley |Vicki

November Stamp Release Blog Hop at STAMPlorations!

Welcome to Day 2 of the November Stamp Release Blog Hop here at STAMPlorations! For complete info on our hop, including how you can win stamps, click here.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on VIGNETTE: Eat Drink Be Merry. Plus we've got a special guest designer joining us, the talented Amy Tsuruta! We'll be picking one commenter to win this set so leave a comment here and on the rest of the STAMPlorations girls' posts for a chance to win the set.

And here's my project! I had some designer paper that made me think of newspapers... And that made me think about reading newspapers in some nice cafeteria... And obviously this stamp set is just perfect for anything coffee-related! I went with classic black and white look: I heat embossed my chosen images and sentiments with white powder on black card and combined them with my "love-themed newspaper". :)

Now I'd like to send you hopping! Enjoy!

*** The stops in the hop*** 

STAMPlorations Blog

Debra | Deepti | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley |Vicki

Special Guest Designer: Amy Tsuruta

November Blog Hop at STAMPlorations!

It's stamp release month at STAMPlorations! Every day in the next 5 days, the other STAMPlorations girls and I will be sharing projects we created featuring the new stamps. Visit and leave a comment on all the stops on the hop for a chance to win.

FIVE (5) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a stamp set from the November release and ONE (1) lucky hopper randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate to use towards products in the STAMPlorations shop. You have until Tuesday, November 25, 11:55 p.m. PST (GMT -800) to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on Friday, November 28.

Today, we're putting the spotlight on Rosebuds, the stamp set designed by Shirley Bampton. We'll be picking one commenter to win this set so leave a comment here and on the rest of the STAMPlorations girls' posts for a chance to win the set.

And here's my project! I've been obsessed with blue this fall and wanted to use the beautiful Rosebuds set for another blue card... I love the way this turned out! I colored the flowers with Copics and used also white gel pen for highlighting. 

Now I'd like to send you hopping! Enjoy everyone's work!

*** The stops in the hop*** 

STAMPlorations Blog

Debra | Deepti | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley |Vicki

Pinecones... Leaves... And a TIME OUT Reminder!

Hi guys!

I have two simple Christmas cards for you today, both stamped with the same Simon Says Stamp Holly Berries stamp set. I tried this stamp set from Milla and nowadays also have it in my own collections -what a beautiful and versatile set! And no one paid me to say this. :)

My first card is inspired our current Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration Challenge at TIME OUT here. The photo has so many elements to be inspired by and this time I chose only the pinocones and went to a different direction with the color palette. I hope you'll join us, there's still about a week to play along! I've used a pretty large sentiment stamp in Finnish in both of my cards today -it says "Warm Christmas Wishes and Happy New Year".  I'd like to enter this card to CASology: Festive.

Here's the TIME OUT inspiration photo:

Then my second card! No pinocones or frozen branches now but leaves and berries in a very traditional colored Christmas card. The inspiration comes from the photo at Festive Friday: my leaves and berries mimic the wreath in the photo. 

Festive Friday inspiration photo:

Thanks for popping by everyone, I hope you liked my cards today! 

Shine at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge for you at Inkspirational! It's "Shine", a very cool word prompt! "Shine" is perfect for Christmas cards or feminine birthday cards isn't it... So do play along! If you need more inspiration, check out the wonderful DT cards in the challenge blog. Our guest designer this time is Rocky and I'm sure she'd love you to pop by at her blog too! 

My card is stamped with a beautiful Peny Black stamp I got to try out from Milla when we met IRL a couple of weeks ago. She challenged me to go all wild with Stickles... This to me means using the Stickles straight from the bottle and not over-cautiously applying it with a brush or a needle... And that's what I've done here with red Stickles. :) The silver matting card adds a bit more shine to the card. The sentiment is Finnish and means "Christmas Peace". The Stickles has a beautiful, glittering shine... It's a shame these things are so hard to photograph! 

Have a fun weekend everyone and I hope to see you playing along at Inkspirational.

Stamps and Layers at STAMPlorations!

Hello friends! 

November... The dark, gloomy, nobody's favorite month... But another great month at STAMPlorations! :) Our first sketch challenge of this month is already running here and now it's time for the monthly challenge: Stamps and Layers. Remember that if you play along in all our 3 challenges this month you have a chance to win a monthly prize pack in addition to winning at all individual challenges... So don't miss any of the fun! Our winners get a chance to guest design at STAMPlorations and this time the guest designer is Lee-Anne. I'm sure she'd love you to pay her a visit and leave her some love! Welcome to STAMPlorations, Lee-Anne! 

In my card I've used the soon to be released VIGNETTE: Trendy Leaves stamp set. We are having a blog hop from 17th to 21st of November where we'll introduce all the new stamps... Have a look at the image below so you'll see how they look like! I'm sure you've already seen our wonderful DT use these stamps in blogland... And soon you can buy your own stamps! In fact, the stamps can be bought as a set already, they are on bundle sale -read all about it here. 

I stamped the leaves using two different shades of Memento ink in all of them. You can find instructions to the technique I used for stamping my layers by typing "triple stamping" to google. To be exact my stamping is only double though! :)

Have a good weekend everyone and I hope to see you at STAMPlorations! 

Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration at TIME OUT!

Hi guys!

We have a new challenge for you at TIME OUT! It's our Home Sweet Home photo inspiration and I just LOVE the photo this time -there's so much to be inspired by! I went with the color palette and earthy, natural feel and texture. I'm normally a very, very slow card maker but this card came together in 5 minutes... I had previously cut the burlap paper (DCWV) to size and heat embossed the Finnish Christmas sentiment with white powder on vellum... I also had some die cuts I've got as a gift from Loll on my desk and before I knew it, this little card was all ready! I'm quite pleased how this turned out. Yay! Magically, when adhering the doily's edge just where the edge of the vellum is, you can't see any border or overlapping -it looks very pretty and neat.

I hope you will be as inspired by our inspiration photo as I was! We have lots of beautiful DT inspiration in our challenge blog so do head on over there... And don't forget to visit our guest designer Toni -I love the pinecone card she made, you don't want to miss it! After some internet surfing... take TIME OUT and join us! :)

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Thanks to Shauna's suggestion I'm entering my card to Mod Squad Challenge: Doilies. Thanks Shauna! :)

New Sketch at STAMplorations

Hi friends!

We have a new, fun sketch for you at STAMPlorations! The Design Team along with our talented guest designer Ingrid has made fab samples -don't forget to check them out and leave the girls some love! 

In my card I've used VIGNETTE: Trendy Feathers for stamping the background. VIGNETTE: Trendy Feathers is one of the new stamps to be released on November 15th and the stamps are now on a bundle sale -buy them all for just 42 dollars! Read more about the offer here... And this is how the stamps look like:

I inked the leaves with two different Memento inks using the "rolling technique" -no idea actually if it's called that or not... But you roll the edges of stamp on top of a darker ink pad after first inking the whole stamp with lighter ink. I also used a falling snow stencil with embossing paste and some vellum in my card. The sentiment (from Sentiment Builders: Dare) is stamped with Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder: thank you everyone who gave me this tip a few weeks ago when I messed up Debra's birthday card with vellum and ink that didn't dry! :) 

Okey, time for me to dare to go out with the dog now -the weather here has been disgusting for some days... Snow, rain, minus degrees, plus degrees, WET snow, rain... We are in the rain-mode now. I'll imagine the impossible -in November in Finland- the Sun. :) Have a fun day everyone and I hope to see you at STAMPlorations!