{Spotlight Project} Guest Designer Kim Creates a Post-Holiday Thank You Card Using the Old School Paper Tole Technique!

Hello again, STAMPlorations friends! Wasn't yesterday's spotlight project brought to us by guest designer Becca Cruger awesome? 

We're back today with one of two spotlight projects by another talented cardmaker: Kim Makortoff of Art Keeps Me Sane. (She'll be back with her second spotlight project on December 29.) It's a pleasure to have Kim sharing her talents with us today. Please stop by her blog afterwards to give her some love!

Hi there! My name is Kim Makortoff and I live in New Brunswick, Canada with my husband and son. I'm a SAHM at the moment and spending time in my craft room is my way of getting away from it all :-) That's how the name of my blog, Art Keeps Me Sane, came about. Arts and crafts have always been my go-to method of relaxing. If left to my own devices, I'd probably go into my craft room and never come out! I lived and breathed art for four wonderful years getting my Fine Arts degree where I specialized in painting.About 15 years ago, I was sucked into the card-making world and have never looked backed. I've been lucky and honored to win some great challenges and be published in a paper crafting magazine. I'm so honored and happy to have been invited by STAMPlorations to be a guest for their spotlight segment. Thank you, STAMPlorations!  :-)

And here's Kim's spotlight project. Enjoy and be inspired!

Hey everyone! I'm sure excited to be here as a guest designer at STAMPlorations for my very own Spotlight Project. I was very honoured when Shery asked me. The task was to create a Christmas/Holiday thank you card. So, with this in mind, I have a tutorial that shows you how to incorporate old school paper tole in your cards. If you're not familiar with that term, paper tole is the art of making three dimensional pictures from flat prints. Stamps lend themselves well to this old-fashioned technique.

STAMPlorations and the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop + Extra Prizes!

Heads up, STAMPlorations friends! We're happy to share the news that there's a holiday blog hop starting right this minute for those of us who love or enjoy a cup of coffee! The hop is hosted by the talented Amy Tsuruta. She was our special guest designer during the stamp release blog hop we did last month.

Amy has done an awesome job lining up 27 sponsors, including STAMPlorations, who are offering tons of fabulous prizes! Play along by creating a coffee or any hot holiday beverage card. Post it on your blog and then link it up at the linky found on Amy's blog. The linky is open until Friday, December 12, at 11:55 p.m. PST (GMT -800) and Amy will be randomly drawing winners of the sponsor prizes from all the projects linked up! 

Link up your coffee or holiday beverage themed card(s) here

Here's a card to inspire you:

Stamps used are VIGNETTE: Eat Drink Be Merry, VIGNETTE: Christmas Block, and HOLIDAY SKETCHES: Christmas Flower 

BLOG CANDY ALERT!

With the holidays upon us, though, it's understandable that some of us may be a little stretched for time. We don't want you to miss out on this fun blog hop, so in case you're not able to link up a project or two by Friday, you could still win a prize! 

Here on the STAMPlorations blog, you could win one of two $10 gift certificates to use on the shop or the Vignette: Eat Drink Be Merry stamp set.

 

For a chance to win one of the gift certificates, answer this question: What's your favorite holiday drink? And then share your answer here on the blog and on our Facebook page. 

Like our Facebook page and then leave a comment on the Holiday Coffee Lovers blog hop post there -- you can't miss it, it's the very top post and the first thing you'll see when you check out the page. --> Go to our Facebook page for an entry.

Comment on this post by telling us what your favorite holiday drink is.

Don't have or use Facebook? Not a problem -- just comment on this blog post! We'll randomly draw one winner from Facebook and one from here. Commenting on both places just increases your chances of winning because you get 2 entries instead of 1.

For a shot at the stamp set, simply follow the STAMPlorations board on Pinterest.

Click here to go to the STAMPlorations board on Pinterest and then click on the "Follow Board" button on the top right of the page. We've got notifications on so we'll know who has started following us.

Already following us on Pinterest? Leave a comment on this post with the name you're using on Pinterest so we can make sure to throw your name in the hat for the random drawing. Already have the stamp set we're offering as a prize? Not a problem either -- you can sub a different set of equal or lesser value.

You have until Sunday, November 14, to comment here and/or on our Facebook page, as well as follow our Pinterest board. We'll be picking three winners: two who will each receive a $10 gift certificate to the STAMPlorations shop and one who will receive the stamp set. We'll announce who they are on December 20. Easy enough, right? :o)

Happy hopping!

{Spotlight Project} Quick and Easy Mixed Media Christmas Cards

Hey, everyone! Twenty-three days until Christmas! Are you done with your Christmas cards? Yes? No? No? Okay well, today I'm sharing a tutorial for making quick and easy mixed media Christmas cards. Here's hoping it will inspire you to get your own cards done in time ;o) I used two of our stamp sets: Holiday Sketches: Christmas Flower and Joyful. Here are the cards:

{Spotlight Project} Shery Creates a One Layer Mixed Media Christmas Tag

I thought I'd take a break from making Christmas cards and create a few Christmas tags that I can use for gift giving. In today's project, I'm sharing one of those tags and some photos of the steps I took to create it. I used my favorite holiday stamp, the Christmas flower stamp, plus words from the Joyful and Christmas Candles sets.

{Spotlight Project} Vicki Does Highlighting With Ink!

I came across a fun technique in blogland and I thought I would share it on today's spotlight project. It's called highlighting resist.

{Spotlight Project} Nonni Makes Cards with the Christmas Stocking Stamp

Hi all friends of STAMPlorations! It's Nonni here playing with a Christmas stocking stamp from October stamp club set, Joyful! In my other card, I've also included a sentiment from the Holiday Sketches: Christmas Flower set.

Shall we take a closer look at the cards?

{Spotlight Project} STAMPlorations Stamps And PanPastel Go Well Together!

With Christmas only 3 months away, how is your stash of Christmas cards? In the past, I've always scrambled and made cards at the last minute. As a result, the recipients got their Christmas cards after Christmas...because most of them were overseas. I'm not doing a repeat of last year and the previous years this year, as I've resolved to get my Christmas mailing done by mid-November!

{Spotlight Project} Monika Plays With The Vignette: Grunge Floral Strips...And Added A Christmas Twist!

Hi, everybody. It's Monika back again with some more inspiration for you. This week's spotlight post of mine is inspired by my friend Sandie, who loves her VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips. It is such a versatile set and you may remember that I used it for my DT project for our Sketch #20 challenge, which is still in full swing.

I had made another card at the time which didn't follow the sketch. However, it tied in with my personal yearly challenge of making at least one Christmas card using non-Christmas stamps.

{Spotlight Project} Shirley Creates A No-Bleach Watermark Background

Hi guys! Remember in the bad old days when we had to use real bleach if we wanted a bleached-out look to our backgrounds? We can now do a no-risk, no-smell, no-spoiled-clothes version just using water and Distress Inks.