{Spotlight Project} Turn a Mess into a Card with Cornelia

Hi, Cornelia here today, making a big mess...

The inspiration from this card probably comes from Eileen Godwin - I think she did something along those lines a while ago.....and if it come from somewhere else the I don't remember, although you may want to checkout Eileen's blog anyhow - it's a feast for the eyes!

Stencil Sunday #26

Hey there, fellow creatives! We've got a new edition of Stencil Sunday,  a weekly feature brought to you by the STAMPlorations girls in the Mixed Media design team. Every Sunday, they share their mixed media projects showcasing ARTplorations stencils and STAMPlorations stamps. Today, Tanja and Susanne are sharing their mixed media projects. You'll find more information about their projects by visiting their blogs -- do check them out!

 

Merry Christmas!

From all of us here at STAMPlorations, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

{Spotlight Project} Monika Goes On An Adventure Journey

Hi, all. It's Monika with one last spotlight project. I am saying 'goodbye' from the Spotlight Team, but I shall be staying on in the Inspirations Team. I am also getting ready for an adventure of a lifetime cruising the canals of England. That's the plan. We had hoped to have a boat secured by now, but luck has been on someone else's side. I shall keep you posted about our progress in next year's Inspiration Posts.

For now you can take inspiration from the cover I made for a little book meant to take the photos of our boat. Here it is:

{Spotlight Project} Shery Does Stamping with Watersoluble Oil Pastels

Hi, STAMPlorations friends! So I haven't done too many spotlight projects lately because my little girl (who'll be 4 months on December 29!) has been keeping me pretty busy :o) Last night, however, while she was asleep, I was able to sneak in a few minutes of crafting.

For months I have been wanting to play with supplies I bought before I gave birth. For this spotlight project, I finally got to play with my set of Cretacolor Aqua Stic watersoluble oil pastels. There are so many techniques I've been wanting to try with these babies but knowing I only had a short time to get this project done, I went with the simplest: using the Aqua Stics for stamping and watercoloring. Here's my card:

{Spotlight Project} Maria Uses a Stencil to Create a Bokeh Effect

Welcome to my last spotlight project for 2015. Hope you are ready for the holidays and may have a little time for playing in your craft room soon! Today I will show you how I achieved a bokeh effect using a stencil. I actually created a rabble of butterflies with the bokeh technique.

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Mixed Media Canvas by Susanne

Susanne has a tutorial showing how to use ARTplorations  Shower of Flutters and Leaf Bliss stencils along with STAMPlorations Blossom like a Butterfly stamp set . Click the graphic below for the video tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

{Winner} ANCHORED Mini Release Hop

Thanks to everyone who joined in the special release mini hop for ANCHORED.

It's time to announce the winner of this set drawn from all the comments left here on the blog, the designers' blogs, as well as tags on Facebook and Pinterest pins.

We pooled the entries and with the help of Mr. Random.org, the winner is:

Linda

Congrats, Linda! Please claim your prize by Tuesday, December 29. Send an e-mail to sheryruss@gmail.com with the subject, "STAMPlorations Anchored winner". Include your complete mailing address in the email and your stamp set will be on its way to you.

By the way, Anchored is available in the shop and it's 10% off until Wednesday, December 23.

We now have lower minimum orders for free shipping to our non-US customers. Orders of at least $25 (previously $35) get free shipping to Canada and orders of at least $35 (previously $50) get free shipping to all other countries. Free shipping coupon codes are found here.

Thanks again, everyone! And don't forget...we have a gift certificate sale going on right now! All gift certificate orders get an extra 25%.

ORDER YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE HERE

Winners - Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Thanks a bunches to everyone who left comments on our winter/holiday coffee lovers blog hop post! Mr. Random.org has picked the 2 lucky winners:

Winner of the $10 gift certificate to the shop:

Kathy Schweinfurth

Winner of the Caffeinated Christmas stamp set:

Marsha

Congratulations, ladies! Please claim your prize by Tuesday, December 29.  Send an e-mail to sheryruss@gmail.com with the subject, "Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Winner".

Thanks again, everyone! And don't forget...we have a gift certificate sale going on right now! All gift certificate orders get an extra 25%.

ORDER YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE HERE

Stencil Sunday #25

Hey there, fellow creatives! We've got a new edition of Stencil Sunday,  a weekly feature brought to you by the STAMPlorations girls in the Mixed Media design team. Every Sunday, they share their mixed media projects showcasing ARTplorations stencils and STAMPlorations stamps. Today, Carol and Kim are sharing their mixed media projects. You'll find more information about their projects by visiting their blogs -- do check them out!

  

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Fa La La Latte Tag by Kim

For the Anchored mini release hop + comment to win, click here. (ends 12/18)
For the Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers blog hop, click here (ends 12/19)

Kim shows you how to make this cute tag using ARTplorations Leaf Bliss and Retro Circles stencils and STAMPlorations Artsy Border Maker and Caffeinated Christmas stamp sets. Click the graphic below for the step by step photo tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

December Challenge Mid-Month Reminder - More Inspiration

For the Anchored mini release hop + comment to win, click here. (ends 12/18)
For the Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers blog hop, click here (ends 12/19)

Hey all! Have you played in the December Challenge yet? We've combined the Theme and Sketch challenges so you can create a project based on the theme, sketch, or both, and link it up!

For December, our theme is STAMPS & A HOLIDAY.

And here's our fun sketch to get inspired by as well.

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS HERE

Introducing the CAS (Clean and Simple) Design Team!

For the Anchored mini release hop + comment to win, click here. (ends 12/18)
For the Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers blog hop, click here (ends 12/19)

I would like to thank everyone who responded to the STAMPlorations CAS Design Team call I put out back in November. I received 78 applications and I gotta tell you...it was not easy to come up with a shortlist, as there were way too many awesome CAS cards submitted.

In order to come to a fair decision, I asked applicants to submit photos of their CAS cards with no personal or identifying watermarks. And so I didn't know who made which card as I created a shortlist of 15. Then I asked the current design team members to vote on their top picks. Their votes, David's (the other half of STAMPlorations) votes, and my votes were tallied.

I'm proud to reveal the 5 talented ladies joining STAMPlorations and who will be leading the CAS card challenge we're starting in 2016! They officially start their term as challenge design team members in January, and I'm excited to have them sharing their creativity and talents here on the STAMPlorations blog. So here they are. Please welcome each one of them and I hope you can stop by their blogs!

{Special Stamp Release!} ANCHORED by Dee's Artsy Impressions + Mini Release Hop -- Comment to Win!

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! We are back with one last mini hop to end the year with the release of Anchored, a set that Deepti designed for her Dee's Artsy Impressions line. This set is so versatile -- perfect for creating encouragement cards and even masculine cards!

For this mini hop, we have the STAMPlorations girls sharing their projects. We'd love for you to visit the designers' blogs and leave comments along the way. The best part? One lucky commenter will win the Anchored stamp set! :o)

DEEPTI

  

JULIE

  

KIM

LEE-ANNE

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, December 18, 11:55 p.m. Pacific (GMT-8).
• We'll randomly select a winner of the stamp set from comments left on all the blogs and announce it on Sunday, December 20.

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 #anchored and #stamplorations
• When you visit the designers' blog posts, pin their cards to your Pinterest board. Again, make sure to tag your pins with #anchored 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).

By the way, Anchored is now available in the shop and for one week only (until December 23), it's 10% off!

We want to remind everyone that we now have lower minimum orders for free shipping to our non-US customers. Orders of at least $25 (previously $35) get free shipping to Canada and orders of at least $35 (previously $50) get free shipping to all other countries. Free shipping coupon codes are found here.

Happy hopping!

ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop Winners!

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! It's time to announce the winners of the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and took the time to visit and leave comments here and on our designers' blogs. Thank you also to all of you who linked up to the Flash Stencil Project Linky Party!

{Spotlight Project} Pencil Coloring with Cornelia

Hi, Cornelia here today, showing you some pencil coloring of Deepti's wonderful set Lotus Love.

{Inspiration Project #53}

Hello, everyone! The girls in the Inspiration team are back with their last inspiration projects for the year. They'll be back in January with a brand new posting schedule + something extra for those of you who follow our Inspiration Project posts.

If you're in any way inspired by the cards, we invite you to CASE them and link up to the Playground. Why not CASE Amy T.'s fun coffee-themed card found in this post? You can also CASE any of the cards found here and here. You'll find the CASEplorations challenge guidelines here.

    

  

{Christmas Sale} STAMPlorations Gift Certificates -- Perfect Last-Minute Gifts!

If you're still looking for the perfect gift for the paper crafter(s) in your life or for yourself, we've got an awesome Christmas sale for you!

From today until December 24, all gift certificate orders get an extra 25%!

Buy a $5 GC and its value becomes $6.25*

Buy a $10 GC and its value becomes $12.50*

Buy a $15 GC and its value becomes $18.75*

Buy a $25 GC and its value becomes $31.25*

Buy a $35 GC and its value becomes $43.75*

Buy a $50 GC and its value becomes $62.50*

ORDER A GIFT CERTIFICATE

*We'll adjust the GC value manually within 24 hours before emailing the GC code to your recipient. If you are buying the GC for yourself, we'll let you know too when the extra 25% has been added to your GC code.

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Special Delivery Tag by Tanja

Tanja shows you how to make this cute tag using ARTplorations Oh my Stars! stencil and STAMPlorations Joyful stamp set . Click the graphic below for the step by step photo tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

{Inspiration Project #52)

It's a wonderful Monday morning here on the STAMPlorations blog. Only 11 more sleeps 'til Christmas! We have some holiday inspiration for you courtesy of the Inspiration team.

Be our guest at CASEing any of the cards featured today. You can also CASE the fab Amy T.'s card that the girls CASEd in this post. Or even CASE the cards featured in last Friday's post here. You'll find the CASEplorations challenge guidelines here.