Friday, August 28, 2020

{Spotlight Project} Becca Does Mixed Media Two Ways



I'm baaaaaaaaaAAAaaaack! It's so good to be back to designing at my STAMPlorations home! I've missed all of you! Today I'm going to share a little bit more about my design aesthetic.

I like to classify myself as a mixed media artist. For some people, hearing the term "mixed media" results in visions of unruly lines, messy tables, and inky fingers. To be honest, this is my default mode for creating - the messier the better. The thought of trying to create a white space on a card used to have the same shiver-inducing response.

So today, I'm using the Wild and Free stamp set from my line and I'd like to show you how mixed media can be done both in the traditional messy, inky ways and in the clean, pristine way. Mixed media for all!

  


Thursday, August 27, 2020

{Throwback Thursday} Jessica Embosses with Dies and Stencils


Hey, STAMPlorations friends! Welcome to Throwback Thursday! On the last Thursday of the month during our summer break (July to September), we have a guest designer sharing projects inspired by a previous STAMPlorations project...either one she made or was made by another STAMPgirl. And every month, we'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Throwback Thursday post for the month, as well as from the featured designer's blog. (ETA: Jessica has let me know that she is moving her blog to a new one and the new blog is still under construction.)

Today STAMPgirl Jessica shares her creative takes inspired by one of the cards she made.




Tuesday, August 25, 2020

{Inspiration Project Post #282}

Hello STAMPlorations Friends! Welcome to Tuesday's Inspiration Post. The Inspiration girls are back with mainly nature inspired projects showcasing stamps, stickers, dies and stencils of their choice.

We'll still randomly draw a winner from all the comments left on our Inspiration posts, have a look and leave a comment for your entry to win a $15 gift code to the STAMPlorations store.

 

 



Monday, August 24, 2020

{Sticker Monday} Shape Cut-Outs Using Clear Stickers


Hello there! It's Monday, STAMPlorations friends! And we're back with Sticker Monday. Every 3rd and 4th Monday of the month while we're on our summer break (July to September), we have the talented Renee Hamilton returning as guest designer and sharing projects showcasing our line of fun clear stickers. And every month, we'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Sticker Monday posts for the month, as well as from the featured designer's blog.

Today, STAMPgirl Renee has projects wherein she cut out clear stickers into shapes.


Sunday, August 23, 2020

{Stencil Sunday} Blending Cards with Stencils and Two Color Inks


Happy Sunday, STAMPlorations friends! We hope you're all continuing to stay safe. Today we have a stunning batch of stencil inspiration for you. All throughout our summer break, our guest designers are showing off how to creatively use ARTplorations stencils. And each month, we'll pick one winner of a $15 gift code -- the winner will be drawn from all comments left on the Stencil Sunday posts for the month, as well as from the designers' blogs.

Today guest designer Gloria Hayoung Lee shares three cards featuring beautifully blended stenciled backgrounds.

    


Friday, August 21, 2020

ARTplorations Slimline Stencils Inspiration Hop WINNERS!


Thank you to everyone who joined in on our stencil inspiration hop featuring our fun slimline stencils. Here are the winners!

winner of a $10 gift code:
(drawn from Vicki's blog)


winner of her choice of 3 slimline stencils:
(drawn from MariLynn's blog)


Congratulations, ladies! Please claim your prize by August 29 (1 week) by sending an email to stamplorations@gmail.com. Put "Slimline stencils hop winner" on the subject and your corresponding prize in the body of the email.

****


SPECIAL OFFER
All throughout August, our slimline stencils are 20% off with the code found in the store. However, if you use a STAMPgirl's 20% off code to buy at least 1 slimline stencil, you'll receive a bonus slimline stencil -- a not-yet-released design! I'll automatically include the bonus slimline stencil in your order when I see that you used a designer's 20% off code. You'll find the STAMPgirls' codes on their blogs. (Limit of 1 free stencil per customer.)

See all our slimline stencils here.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

{Digital Wednesday} Coloring with Markers

Happy Wednesday! We're back with another Digital Wednesday post. Every 2nd and 3rd Wednesday in July, August, and September, we have guest designers sharing their creations spotlighting our digital images either by themselves or together with other STAMPlorations products. We'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Digital Wednesday posts for the month, as well as from the featured designers' blogs.

Today, be prepared to be wowed by Anila Dikay. She made 3 stunning cards featuring our digital stamps, using markers to color them.

    


Tuesday, August 18, 2020

{Inspiration Project Post #281}

Hello STAMPlorations Friends! Welcome to Tuesday's Inspiration Post. The Inspiration girls are back showcasing stamps, digital stamps, dies and stencils of their choice in their summery projects.

We'll still randomly draw a winner from all the comments left on our Inspiration posts, have a look and leave a comment for your entry to win a $15 gift code to the STAMPlorations store.

 

 




Monday, August 17, 2020

{Sticker Monday} Die Cut Inlay Cards with Clear Stickers


Happy Monday, STAMPlorations friends! It's a brand new week and we're back with Sticker Monday. Every 3rd and 4th Monday of the month during our summer break (July to September), we have the talented Renee Hamilton guest designing and sharing projects showcasing our line of fun clear stickers. And every month, we'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Sticker Monday posts for the month, as well as from the featured designer's blog.

Today, STAMPgirl Renee is sharing 3 die cut inlay cards featuring our clear stickers.


Friday, August 14, 2020

Flash Giveaway on our Facebook Page + A Plea from a Small Business Owner


Hey, STAMPfriends! If you aren't following our Facebook page, now's a good time do so because we've got a flash giveaway happening over there.

And it's a giveaway wherein you and a friend can win! So head on over there now and get your entries in. Giveaway ends Sunday night, August 16, with winners announced Monday night, August 17.



About the giveaway prize:
Bloomtangled #1 is one of our super-popular cover plate dies and I recently re-stocked it (it's 25% off when you use the code CUT25). My manufacturer included a few extras over what I ordered so I'm happy to give away a couple of these :o)


*****


A Backstory and a Plea for Support

Interestingly, this cover plate die was the victim of theft. Last month, I was made aware that a Chinese company (not going to mention the name nor link to it because they don't deserve any promotion or link juice from me) was selling a knock-off of the Bloomtangled #1 design. It was a shoddy copy of the design -- a little modification here, a little frame added there, and they called it their product and was selling it in their store dirt cheap. But hey, it was pretty obvious that they stole that design from me.

It wasn't the first time my designs have been stolen; in fact, I've been dealing with this kind of theft for the past 14 months and I have been pretty disheartened, exhausted, and so, so ready to give up. Long story short, I shot off a cease-and-desist email to the company with a threat that I will report them to Shopify for copyright infringement and intellectual property theft if they did not take down the product page and stop selling the die. Within 12 hours of them acknowledging receipt of my email, the product was gone from their store. As with all other cases like this one, I continue to monitor and check their store to make sure they didn't put it back up for sale. 

If you have ever wondered how some companies are able to sell stamps and dies for literally pennies, it's because 99% of the time, they are selling stolen designs. They never invested in the design development...all they really did was copy the design and have them produced. They never invested many, many hours brainstorming and coming up with original designs. Unlike small business owners like me, these thieves were never torn deciding between time to spend on designing products and time to spend on their families, especially when these thieves don't have small children and their business is not their sole source of income. Those who have purchased from these companies before and thought they got a great deal...well, yeah they did, but what they don't realize is that it was at the expense of legitimate designers and small companies who are barely making a profit from their original products.

Now more than ever, small companies like STAMPlorations need your support. Please, please don't buy counterfeit products. If the price seems too good to be true, trust that little voice in your head -- it's called your conscience -- and don't spend your money on stores/companies that seem to give off a counterfeit vibe. Small businesses are barely surviving these days, and when their designs are stolen and are bought from thieves, then that is one huge thing that contributes to their eventual demise.

If we let these counterfeiters continue to profit off the work of legitimate artists, designers, and small companies, there would hardly be any more small companies like STAMPlorations left because we simply can't fight all the theft and infringement and still be able to invest in original designs and have them produced, only to be stolen soon enough, and then be expected to stay in business.


Wednesday, August 12, 2020

{Digital Wednesday} Ishani's No Line Coloring with Digital Stamps

Happy Wednesday! Digital Wednesday is back every 2nd and 3rd Wednesday during our summer break (July, August, and September). We have guest designers sharing their creations spotlighting our digital images either by themselves or together with other STAMPlorations products. We'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Digital Wednesday posts for the month, as well as from the featured designers' blogs.

The super talented Ishani is back with more stunning cards featuring our digital stamps. Her cards feature the no line coloring technique. Don't miss the video wherein she shows how to print digital images for the no line coloring technique. And don't worry -- you don't need Photoshop or some other program to do this!

    

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

{Inspiration Project Post #280}

Hello STAMPlorations Friends! Welcome to Tuesday's Inspiration Post. The Inspiration girls are back showcasing stamps, dies and stencils of their choice in their summery projects.

We'll still randomly draw a winner from all the comments left on our Inspiration posts, have a look and leave a comment for your entry to win a $15 gift code to the STAMPlorations store.

 

 


Monday, August 10, 2020

{JULY WINNERS}

 

Hello, STAMP friends! It's the 10th of the month, which means it's time to announce last month's winners! We also have winners of our Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge and June Inspiration Projects posts, as well as winners of our special posts: Stencil Sunday, Sticker Monday, Digital Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Christmas in the Air, and 3 CRAFTplorations posts with Craftyfield and Monika. Plus we had a $25 gift code and digital stamp giveaways on the store last month. Winners were randomly chosen by Random.org.

An important reminder to challenge players: 
  • When playing in our challenges, you must display the challenge graphic AND link back directly to the challenge post (NOT to the main blog or the challenge section) via TEXT link in your blog post in order to qualify for the prizes. (Note: Several were passed over as winners/runners up/random picks because they were either missing the challenge graphic or didn't have a text link to the challenges they entered in their blog posts.)
  • Be mindful of the maximum challenge entries -- the Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge has a limit of 6 entries per player; the CAS Cards Challenge has a limit of 3 entries per player; the Stencil Challenge has no entry limit. However, during our summer break (July to September), there is no limit to the number of entries that can be entered.

An important note about our winners post: winners (challenges, blog hops, and special posts) of the previous month are announced in one post (this one), unless a specific announce-by date is indicated in a post. All winners must claim their prizes by the deadline. If you are a regular player in our challenges or participant in our blog hops and special events, please consider following our blog, even signing up to receive email notifications when new posts are published. You'll find those links on the right side bar.


***An important note about our prizes (as of July 2020)*** 

  • We have transferred over to a new e-commerce platform and so all of our prizes are now in the form of gift codes (also referred to as discount codes and gift vouchers)Our new gift codes can be applied across all 3 stores: mainoutlet, and digital.
  • Gift codes may not be passed on, given to, or used by another person other than the one it was issued to. Every gift code issued as prize is tagged with the name of the winner.
  • If you win in our challenges (winner, runner-up, or random pick) and you have an existing gift certificate in our old store, you can choose to have a gift certificate issued so you can use your gift certificates on the old store before we permanently close it on October 1.
  • Gift codes can accumulate. If you win several times within a 3-month period and you do not use your first gift code prize, the values of your next gift codes can be added to your first gift code. All gift codes expire within 3 months, but if you choose to have your gift code values combined into one gift code, the first gift code's expiration date will apply.

Winners, please claim your prize on or before Monday, August 24. Prizes not claimed by August 24 will be forfeited -- NO EXCEPTIONS. Please understand that because we have a lot of winners and give away $100 to $200 worth of prizes in the form of products and gift/coupon codes each month, it would take a lot of time to contact the winners individually. I also want to be fair to those who regularly visit our blog and claim their prizes within the time frame given.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLAIMING PRIZE

When claiming your prize, send an email to stamplorations@gmail.com

I have an email filter set up for claiming prizes so to avoid delay and to make sure I see your email in my BLOG PRIZE folder, follow this format in the subject line:

"STAMPlorations July Winner - specific challenge here"
e.g., "STAMPlorations July Winner - Summer"
"STAMPlorations July Winner - Sticker Monday"

It also helps if you include what prize you won (a $15/$10/$5 gift code, tangible product, etc.) in the body of your email.

If you are the winner of a tangible/mailable prize, include your complete mailing address in the email you send, even if I already have mailed to you before. (It saves me time having to look up your address.)

Sunday, August 09, 2020

{Stencil Sunday} Stunning Stenciled Rainbow Cards


Happy Sunday, STAMPlorations friends! How are you all doing -- health-wise and crafting-wise? If you're looking for a bit of inspiration, you won't be disappointed because today's edition of Stencil Sunday is sure to inspire! We have amazing guest designers this summer sharing their talents and projects that show off how to creatively use ARTplorations stencils. And each month, we'll pick one winner of a $15 gift code -- the winner will be drawn from all comments left on the Stencil Sunday posts for the month, as well as from the designers' blogs.

Today we have guest designer Deepti Aggarwal sharing 3 stunning stenciled rainbow cards -- guaranteed to make you smile and hopefully get you crafting as well!

    


Thursday, August 06, 2020

{Spotlight Project} Monika Opts For Monochromatic Stencilling


Hello STAMPlorations Friends! It's Monika back with another Spotlight feature. Today I went for the simplicity of a monochromatic look using just one ink colour in combination with the Bloom Succulently stencil and a stamped sentiment from Deepti's Tweet Love set.

Here is today's card:


Wednesday, August 05, 2020

ARTplorations Slimline Stencils Inspiration Hop


Hey, STAMPfriends! As promised, we have a little inspiration and mini hop for you all so you can see our slimline stencils in action.

For those of you who hop and comment here and on the designers' blogs, you'll be in for a chance to win one of two prizes:
  • one lucky commenter will win her choice of 3 slimline stencils
  • one lucky commenter will win a $10 gift code to spend on the store
Simply comment between now and August 19. We'll do a special post announcing the winners on August 21. And make sure you scroll all the way down to this post for a special offer just for those who buy at least 1 slimline stencil this month.

Tuesday, August 04, 2020

{Inspiration Project Post #279}

Hello STAMPlorations Friends! Welcome to Tuesday's Inspiration Post. The Inspiration girls are back with some colorful projects showcasing stamps, stencils and stickers of their choice.

We'll still randomly draw a winner from all the comments left on our Inspiration posts, have a look and leave a comment for your entry to win a $15 gift code to the STAMPlorations store.

 

 



Monday, August 03, 2020

Heads Up! ARTplorations Slimline Stencils Inspiration and Mini Hop


Heads up, crafty-arty friends! STAMPgirls Deepti, MariLynn, Nancy, and Vicki will be showcasing our brand new slimline stencils this Wednesday...giving you loads of inspiration on using our fun new stencil size.

Our slimline stencils have been in the store for only 2 weeks but they've been selling like hotcakes! We have 36 designs to date -- available in 2 thicknesses (7 mil translucent blue and 10 mil hazy/frosted white) and so far, our top sellers* are: Bamboo, Beyond the Trees, Burst, Flair, Leaf Prints 4, Overlayers, Wavy, and Wheels. My laser cutter and I have been hard at work cutting stencils the last 2 weeks ;o)

*at least 25 units of each design have sold


So we'll see you here on Wednesday, 7 am Pacific, okay?



Sunday, August 02, 2020

Hello, August! Current Promotions + $25 Gift Code and CRAFTplorations Giveaways @ the STAMPlorations Store

Hey, STAMPfriends! So it's been a month since we moved to our new store. Have you checked it out yet? With all 3 stores (main, outlet, and digital) in one place, it's now easy to shop different STAMPlorations products. And if you've got a gift code you won as a prize, you'll be able to apply it on products found on all 3 stores. Our old store remains open and will remain open until September 30 to give customers a chance to use any gift codes and/or gift certificates they may have. We aren't running any more promotions on the old store. We do have lots of it on the new store!

The team is on a summer break and will be officially back in October, although we continue with some of our usual features like the inspiration projects posts on Tuesdays and spotlight projects on Thursdays. Then we have Stencil Sunday, Sticker Monday, Digital Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, and Christmas in the Air -- and all offer chances to win spending money in the store. And then you know that we have one summer challenge for those who want to keep playing and sharing their creations. 

Anyway, our July special posts are still open for commenting (until the 8th) so you have plenty more time left to comment for a chance to win spending $$ on our new store. You'll find the quick links to all of them under the heading {SPECIAL POSTS & PROMOTIONS}.

To keep updated on all the specials we're running in the store at any given time, be sure to bookmark our Current Promotions page.



Take 25% off CUTplorations dies with code CUT25
Take 20% off slimline stencils with code SLIMLINE20
+ buy 4 slimline stencils, get 1 free (buy 8, get 2 free; buy 12, get 3 free)

***Codes may be used multiple times and may be used together with codes for the outlet and digital stores and/or free shipping codes. Codes expire 8/31.***


grab our freebie of the month!

PERCHED BIRD thin metal die
August’s free product — just pay shipping. 



STAMPlorations grab bags

Every order of $40 or more includes a STAMPlorations grab bag. It’s auto-applied during checkout. Click for details.



free products!

Spend at least $60 (after discounts and before shipping) and you get to pick TWO (2) free products of your choice: 3x5 stamps OR CUTplorations word/phrase thin metal dies OR ARTplorations stencils OR clear sticker packs.

*During checkout, you will be asked to specify which two products you want. Your freebies will be included in your order once it ships — it’s that easy! 



august giveaways

Win a $25 gift code
(1 winner drawn)
+
Win your choice of CRAFTplorations chipboard pack!
(2 winners drawn)





free shipping on lower order minimums

We have free shipping codes on lower order minimums but these are exclusive to mailing list subscribers. Sign up to the store mailing list here. (When you confirm your subscription, you'll be taken to a page that has a link to subscriber-only codes.)