Meet Our New Challenge Design Team Member: Suchi Paithankar

I'm excited and proud to announce a new STAMPlorations girl joining the Challenge Design Team: the talented Suchi Paithankar of Suchi's Cardstock! A regular player in our challenges, Suchi has been our guest designer and one of her amazing cards caught Maria F.'s eye that the Inspiration team CASEd it for the November CASEplorations. I've been meaning to fill a spot in the team when Nonni stepped down in August and I kept seeing Suchi's beautiful creations not just in our challenges but all over blogland. The next step was to send her an invitation, hoping she'd say yes. I love Suchi's artsy style...and you'll see below a few of her cards where she used our stamps -- awesome examples of why I think she's a great fit with the girls in the Challenge team.

"Hello, all! I am Sucheta! You will find me as Suchi from Suchizcardstock. I am 27 years old, from India, and have been married to a wonderful guy since 2013. I have been passionately painting and crafting since I  can remember. So, when I was introduced to the world of blogging, I started off without looking back and have made wonderful friends on this creative platform. My style includes CAS, layered cards, mixed  media, and interactive cards. I have been experimenting a lot lately and I am loving it! STAMPlorations has made me feel home since day one and I have been passionately inspired by the talented team! Shery surprised and thrilled me by asking me to join the Challenge Design Team for 2016. Thanks, Shery, for this splendid opportunity! It will be challenging as well as exciting to work along with such a SUPER CREATIVE team! You can find me on my blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram."

Please give Suchi a warm welcome and check out her blog. We're so excited to have her on the team and she officially joins us in the February Challenge that starts on Friday. Until then, check out some of the cards she has made -- they're my personal favorites :o)

  

    

Stencil Sunday #31

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, kim and Asmah are sharing their mixed media projects. You'll find more information about their projects by visiting their blogst!

  

{Inspiration Project Post #58}

We're about to say goodbye to January with one last dose of projects from the Inspiration team. Check out today's makes and leave a comment ... you might end up being the lucky winner of $10 spending money on the shop.

And if you are looking to do a little CASEplorations, the linky is still open until the end of today. You can find the January CASEplorations post here.

 

 

  

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Me Tag by Asmah

Asmah is back with another fun and easy tag tutorial. This time, she used the ARTplorations Happy Flowers - LARGE and Tribal Triangles stencils. Click the graphic below for the step by step photo tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

{PREVIEW} February/March 2016 Stamp Club Set - SKETCHY ALPHABET

In less than a week, February will be here -- can you believe how fast January whooshed by? And with the new month comes a new stamp club set. Here's a preview of SKETCHY ALPHABET.

SKETCHY ALPHABET is a 5" by 7" stamp set featuring a whopping 56 individual stamps: 26 uppercase letters, 10 numbers, and 20 symbols. This set is perfect for creating your own custom sentiments, as well as in combination with our other sentiment stamp sets.

You'll soon see the STAMPlorations girls feature this set in their spotlight projects. 

SKETCHY ALPHABET will be available to non-stamp club subscribers starting February 5. But right now, it's already available to current stamp club subscribers.

Want this stamp set now at a great price with a couple of ARTplorations stencils of your choice and free shipping? Just sign up for the stamp club here. Stamp club subscribers get to enjoy lots of perks :o)

[Hint: we'll be adding a new perk in April + the stamp club subscription price will increase by then, so if you've been thinking of joining, now's the best time because you'll be locked in at the current price.]

If you're already a stamp club subscriber, thanks so much for your support! And check your email too because I sent out a stamp club update a couple of days ago that gives you a preview of the stamp club sets coming in April and June, as well as the new perk you'll be receiving beginning April! If your subscription is set to renew sometime later this month, you can pick Sketchy Alphabet instead of the current set, Country Rustic -- it's up to you!

Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

PS: If you're a coffee lover and love participating in the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, check out the upcoming coffee sets I designed here. The next Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is happening in March.

PPS: Our free worldwide shipping ends this Sunday, January 31. Just for our blog followers, all orders of at least $12 ship free worldwide. Use code STAMPWEEK.

{Spotlight Project} Deepti Creates a Watercolor Painting Look with Country Rustic!

Hello friends! Deepti here and welcome to another spotlight feature. The Country Rustic set has loads of images that can be used to create some artistic cards similar to that of paintings. My spotlight is on the same thing and I will share a fun way to create the leaves with watercolors.

So, here's a look at the finished card.

{Spotlight Project} Maria Goes CAS with a Message

Welcome to my spotlight post about creating a super simple CAS card which still has a lot of "heart". If you've ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel restaurant you'll recognize where I got my inspiration ;) And you can imagine that my parents, who love the place, will appreciate my card.

{Inspiration Project #57}

Welcome to another edition of our Inspiration Project posts! Every Tuesday, the STAMPlorations girls in the Inspiration team share their projects. Check out this week's makes and leave a comment...you might end up being the lucky winner of $10 spending money on the shop :o)

And if you're looking to do a little CASEplorations, the January post is here.

   

    

  

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Explore ATC by Asmah

Asmah has a fun and quick tutorial today for creating ATCs using the ARTplorations Retro Circles stencil along with several STAMPlorations stamps -- Bold Sentiments: Explore, Bold Sentiments: Create, and  Blossom like a Butterfly. Click the graphic below for the step by step photo tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

Stencil Sunday #30

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 is sharing her mixed media tags featuring the Bold Florals stencil and. Subway Art Builders: Dare stamp. You'll find more information about her project by visiting her blog -- do check it out!

COFFEE HAPPY + All You Need Is Coffee Mini Set Pre-Release SALE

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! On February 17, we're releasing two coffee-themed stamps: COFFEE HAPPY (4x6) and ALL YOU NEED IS COFFEE (3x5). I designed these sets with the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop in mind...and the coffee hop for spring is happening pretty soon -- so these stamps are perfect for creating coffee cards if you love participating in the fun hops that Amy and Chaitali host four times a year.

 

COFFEE HAPPY is a 4x6 set that features 3 images (coffee mug, coffee pot, and stacked coffee/tea cups) and lots of words and phrases that can be mixed and matched to create the perfect sentiment for coffee lovers. Take a look:

 

Pre-order COFFEE HAPPY and the ALL YOU NEED IS COFFEE mini set is free ($7 value) + the stamps ship free to anywhere in the US and Canada (and just $4 shipping to all other countries). These stamps are in production and will ship beginning February 18 now available and ship within 3 days after you pre-order!

Sorry, the pre-order period has ended but you can order COFFEE HAPPY and ALL YOU NEED IS COFFEE at 10% off until February 24.

Happy stamping and hurray for coffee! ;o)

{Mixed Media Tutorial} Blossom like a Butterfly art tag by Kim

Kim shows how to use ARTplorations Old Rose Prints stencil along with the STAMPlorations Blossom like a Butterfly stamp set to make this vibrant tag. Click the graphic below for the step by step photo tutorial she has on the ARTplorations blog. See you there!

STAMPlorations January 2016 Stamps Release Blog Hop Winners

 

It's time to announce the winners of the January 2016 stamps release blog hop! We thank everyone who participated -- thank you for taking the time to visit and leave comments here and on our designers' blog.

With the help of Random.org, the FOUR (4) winners of the new stamps are:

DAY 1 winner of Reindeer Games by Becca: ionabunny

DAY 2 winner of New Beginning by Deepti: Joan V

DAY 3 winner of Big Greetings by Shery: Chris D.

DAY 4 winner of Winged Things by Shirley: valerija

*****

The TWO (2) winners of $15 gift certificate each are:

from Cornelia's blog: vinita jain

from Maria's blog: Birgit

 *****

The winner of  the $25 gift certificate is:

 

from Monika's blog: Christy Q

***

Congratulations, ladies! Please claim your prize by Friday, January 29. Send an email to sheryruss@gmail.com with the subject "January 2016 stamps release blog hop winner". [Note: it is important that you include the subject line, as it will be filtered to a special folder on my inbox. This will ensure that I get your email.] Please provide the email address for sending your gift certificate code. If you are the winner of the stamp set, please include your mailing address in your email.


Thanks, everyone, for making our January stamps release blog hop a successful event here on the blog! All the January stamps are available to purchase right here. All 4 sets are 10% off until Friday, January 22! Buy the bundle (all 4 stamps) and snag them at 20% off with free shipping anywhere in the world! Just click the graphic below to start shopping.

 

Just for our blog followers and January stamp release blog hop participants, until January 31: All orders of at least $12 ship free worldwide! Use code STAMPWEEK.

Our next official stamp release is in April but between now and then, we've got several stamps lined up for special release! Check back again tomorrow because I have a special post for all you coffee lovers out there featuring upcoming stamps that are perfect for the next Coffee Lovers Blog Hop happening in mid-March :o)

The STAMPlorations girls and I thank all of you for your support! Hope you're all having a wonderful week!

CAS Card Challenge Reminder

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! Have you played in our brand new CAS Card Challenge? It's anything CAS goes with silver as the optional color twist. If you do play, you can also enter your CAS card(s) to our January Challenge, where the theme is STAMPS & CAS.

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS HERE