Bi-weekly Sketch Challenge #12 and May Challenge Reminder Post

Hello! This is a friendly reminder that the current sketch challenge ends tonight at 11:55 p.m. PDT and the May challenge ends tomorrow at 11:55 p.m. PDT. You'll find links to the challenges right above this post.

Here are inspiration projects from Cornelia, Sandie, Shery, Shirley, and Vicki for the May Challenge: STAMPS & FLOWERS.

Cornelia

Sandie

Shery

Shirley

Vicki

Happy stamping!


PS: Keep your eyes peeled because next week, we'll start giving sneak peeks of the new stamps coming to the shop in July!

Happy birthday, Vicki!

(Photo source)

Her cards always have the most gorgeous bows, and she makes amazing CAS and layered cards in bold, happy colors. She's an incredibly prolific card-maker and she's admitted that all she does is stamp! 

It was her birthday last May 22. We didn't forget her birthday...just delayed her celebration a bit because we wanted to surprise her. So Vicki, this one's for you!

Cornelia

Debra

Maria

Monika

Nonni

Sandie

Shery

Shirley

Spotlight: Exploration STAMPlorations by Maria + Stamp Giveaway!

Heads up, fellow stampers! STAMPlorations girl Maria is showcasing 3 of our new stamp sets on her blog. If you missed out on our first blog hop, you've got another chance to win one of the stamp sets we released this month!

All you need to do is check out the 3 beautiful cards that Maria created this week and then answer the question she posed on her last blog post (card #3). She'll pick a winner on Saturday so you have until Friday to leave her a comment. Easy peasy!

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3 (+ comment on her blog post for a chance to win)

Bi-Weekly Sketch Challenge #12

Welcome to our 12th bi-weekly sketch challenge! Here’s the sketch for this challenge. It’s open to interpretation. Feel free to change the orientation of the sketch, use different shapes, add other elements to suit the type of paper craft you’re making, and so on — just make sure the sketch is recognizable in your submission(s). You can use stamps by other companies to create projects that you enter to our challenges, although if you have STAMPlorations stamps in your stash, we'd be tickled if you use them!

Bi-Weekly Sketch Challenge #11 Winner and Top Picks

Thanks so much to everyone who played in the Sketch Challenge #11! Lots of beautiful entries. It's Maria's turn to pick the winner and top picks.

STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge #11 Winner

3. Deepti

Maria had this to say about Deepti's project: "Every time I see this card (she created it for several challenges) it grabs my attention. So very creative. I love how the image matches the sentiment and how she interpreted the STAMPlorations sketch." Congratulations, Deepti! Please grab your winner badge below to display on your blog! We'll be in touch with you soon with information on claiming your prize. We are also looking forward to having you as a Guest Designer in next month's sketch challenge!

**********

STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge #11 Top Picks

9. Indy

Why it's Maria's top pick: "The little strips of printed ribbon representing the three little banners in the sketch are so creative. And I love the story of how the card for Dad developed - obviously a work of love."

18. Joanna M.

Why it's Maria's top pick: "What can I say? I'm a sucker for a humorous sentiment and that critter is so darn cute. Paired with polka dots it just leaves me smiling."

Congratulations, ladies! Please grab your top pick badge below to display on your blog!

Again, thank you to everyone who participated! We all had a wonderful time looking at and admiring your creations. Tomorrow at 6 a.m. PDT (GMT -700), Sketch Challenge #12 starts so we hope you'll come back again and play with us!

Keep on stampin'!

~ The STAMPlorations Design Team

Happy birthday, Sandie!

We interrupt our regular programming here on the blog to bring you this special post by the STAMPlorations girls for a super-talented card-maker, Sandie.

Well, Cornelia expresses it best in her awesome selfie:

We've got a parade of birthday cards...

by Cornelia

by Debra

by Maria

by Nonni

by Vicki

...and something we don't usually see much on blogland...card selfies. Normally, we prefer to be behind the camera taking photos of our cards but because it's your special day, Sandie, and you're one super special person, here you go!

Here's Monika...

...and Shery 

That's Shirley right there. You can tell she's really shy...

...and Nonni isn't! 

And all the way from Germany, here's Maria to round up the greetings!

Lastly, at Nonni's blog, there's Sandie's birthday linky party going on! So happy, happy birthday, Sandie! Enjoy your special day!

Bi-Weekly Sketch Challenge #11 Reminder Post + Inspiration Projects

Hello! Here's a friendly reminder that our current sketch challenge ends this Friday at 11:55 p.m. PST. Here are cards by Monika and Shery for your inspiration.

Monika

Shery

Submit your sketch-based project(s) here

Happy stamping!

STAMPlorations Stamp Release Blog Hop Winners!

Time to announce the winners of our blog hop! Thanks so much to everyone who participated and took the time to visit and comment on our designers' blogs! 

The 5 winners randomly chosen (using Random.org) from our designers' blogs are:

Winner of the SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Happy stamp set from Shirley's blog:

#21 Bizzi Hands said...
What a super card... so simple but so very effective and easy to put together.. thanks for the inspiration.. Awesome!!!!
Sally
xxxx 

Winner of the SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Thank You stamp set from Nonni's blog:

#4 Janice     7 May 2014 16:43
Nice CAS design!

Winner of the VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips stamp set from Cornelia's blog:

#6 keren said...
Love your watercoloured effects on your cards!

Winner of the SUBWAY ART BUILDERS: Create stamp set from Shery's blog:

#4 Rhonda May 7, 2014 at 6:44 am
I love the second card – especially the curvy edge.

Winner of the SUBWAY ART BUILDERS: Dare stamp set from Debra's blog:

#2 Rahmat Gouse        May 7, 2014 at 9:28 PM
Love your bold streaks of colors!

Winners of their choice of stamp set in the new release from the STAMPlorations blog:

#10 Louise Wright May 7, 2014 at 1:36 PM
fab stamps and bold statements- my favourites :-) 

#7 ionabunny May 7, 2014 at 7:07 AM
These look like must haves. Off to hop.......

The blog hop was so much fun that we couldn't just leave it at that. So I (Shery) picked 3 more winners to win one of our earlier releases, VIGNETTE: Old Type:

from Monika's blog:

#3 Eemeli 07/05/2014 AT 13:31
Very nice. Love the muted color scheme.
Hugs from Finland,
Eemeli

from Sandie's blog:

#6 Craft-E-Place 7 May 2014 16:04
Brilliant - inspired idea to use the grunge floral as 'washi' tape.
Elaine

from Vicki's blog:

#13 cm said... May 7, 2014 at 12:39 PM
A quartet of delights here, Vicki, each one so unique! You've showcased the new release wonderfully, so much so that 'exercising restraint' has gone out the window. I'm going shopping!! Fabulous set!
c

Congratulations, winners! Please claim your prize by Thursday, May 15. Send an email to sheryruss@gmail.com with the subject "Blog hop winner" and include your complete name and postal address.

Thanks, everyone, for making our first blog hop a really fun one! Keep your eyes peeled because in June, STAMPlorations will turn 1 -- and we'll celebrate with a birthday blog hop that will also coincide with the release of the new stamps for July!

Have a super creative day!

~ The STAMPlorations™ girls

PS: All 5 new sets are available in the shop and we have a special release bundle offer (28% off) that ends tonight. 

Mother's Day Inspiration Projects

Looking for the stamp release blog hop?

Wanna win one of the recently released STAMPlorations stamps?

Scroll down the page or click here! Hop ends this Sunday, May 11, 11:55 p.m. PDT.

Mother's Day is this Sunday! Got something planned for mom? A handmade card can be a cherished gift, so here are some more Mother's Day cards that Debra, Maria, Shery, and Vicki created to get you inspired.

Debra

Maria

Shery

Vicki

Keep on stampin'!

~ The STAMPlorations Design Team

STAMPlorations Stamp Release Blog Hop

The day has finally come! Today is the first day of the STAMPlorations Stamp Release Blog Hop and we're excited to show the projects we created using the 5 new stamp sets! Visit all the stops on the hop and leave a comment for a chance to win 1 of the new stamp sets. All 5 new sets are available in the shop and we have a special release bundle offer available for a limited time.

But first, check out the projects that the STAMPlorations girls created just for this blog hop. You can have a shot at winning one of the stamp sets and it's super easy! Just visit each stop in the hop and leave a comment there. You'll find more info on the prizes at the bottom of this post.

(Note: There are only 9 stops in the hop, including this blog. A few of us made more than one project so you'll see multiple projects in one blog post.)

CORNELIA

   

  

DEBRA

MONIKA

NONNI

SANDIE

SHERY

      

SHIRLEY

VICKI

   

Ready to win some stamps? It's simple, really.

• FIVE (5) lucky hoppers will be randomly drawn from the designers' blogs to win one of the 5 new stamp sets.

• TWO (2) lucky hoppers will be randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog to win their stamp set of choice.

• If you are picked as one of the winners, you have 3 days to email us and claim your prize. (Should you happen to buy the bundle or any of the stamps during the hop and you are picked as a winner, we will either refund you the cost of the stamp or let you pick a stamp set.)

So, simply leave a comment on this post and on the designers blog hop posts between now and Sunday, May 11, 11:55 p.m. PDT. (Limit it to one comment per blog, please.)

We will announce the winners the following day, May 12, right here on the blog. How easy is that?

We hope you have fun and get inspired during the hop. Make sure to follow this blog for more inspiration projects and upcoming events!