Sunday 29 June 2014

STAMPlorations Blog Hop Reminder!


Hi guys! Have you done the STAMPlorations Birthday Blog Hop already? If not, it's not too late to start: click here for the blog hop post and all the details! We are celebrating STAMPlorations' 1st birthday and are having fun with the Celebration themed June Release. If you go to STAMPlorations Shop you'll find all the new stamps on the front page. The set I used in my quick card is VIGNETTE: It's Your Day (image above). The sentiment block is so fun to create backgrounds with -you don't really need much else and this is perfect for masculine cards too. I stamped on a patterned paper with faint blue lines so I chose blue thread to pick up that color and help the flower to stand out from the background. That's my card in all of it's simplicity! :) Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you hopping!


Thursday 26 June 2014

STAMPlorations Birthday Blog Hop


Welcome to STAMPlorations Birthday Blog Hop!
STAMPlorations turns a year old this month and we're celebrating with a blog hop! We're also releasing the new stamps for July so it's a double celebration. The other STAMPlorations girls and I are sharing projects we created that feature the new stamps. And we've got 5 talented card-makers celebrating with us too! Visit all the stops on the hop and leave a comment for a chance to win stamps. We're giving away over $120 worth of stamps!

FOURTEEN (14) lucky hoppers randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a stamp set and ONE (1) lucky hopper randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win all the stamps in the July release. You have until Wednesday, July 2, 11:55 p.m. PDT (GMT -700) to comment here and on my fellow designers' posts for a chance to win. Winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on Sunday, July 6.

In my card I've used several of the new celebration-themed stamps. They are available to buy on the shop during the hop: All 6 sets is $30 (17% off) + free shipping in the US (flat rate to other countries). Click here for details! I coloured some of the big celebration-sentiments with an ombre-look and used the same markers for the cupcake wrap too. I could't resist on adding white dots with gel pen to the wrap as well! All colouring is done with Copics. I added a ribbon but apart from that, no embellies in this card. Oh by the way the stamp set you can win from my blog is my all time STAMPlorations favorite: Chevron and Arrows. Don't forget to comment! :)

Here are all the stops of the hop:

Design Team:
Cornelia | Debra | Kylie | Maria | Monika | Nonni | Shery | Shirley | Vicki
Guest Designers:
Ardyth | Chrissie | Deepti | Melissa | Mynn

Have fun hopping and thanks for popping by!

Saturday 21 June 2014

White/Cream + Blue at Inkspirational Challenges!

Hi friends,
It's time for a new challenge at Inkspirational! We have a color challenge for you: use white/cream with blue. These are the colors of the flag of Finland and the national colours of my home country -many Finns love this combo! You may combine these with neutral colors and natural colors for skin and fur. My Inkspirational DT teamies have made stunning projects for your inspiration and I hope you'll check them out from the challenge blog. As always we have a guest designer too and this time it's Laura from LE-Designs. Laura made a stunning shaker card for you, don't miss it!

In my card I've used a medallion stamp from PTI. I heat embossed it with white powder on patterned paper (Papermania) and the result was so pretty I didn't want to cover it up with anything else. :) I added some turquoise rhinestones as accents and heat embossed a Finnish greeting (Congratulations). That's my card in all of it's simplicity! :)

Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you playing along at Inkspirational. Happy crafting!


Thursday 19 June 2014

CASEing Donna Mikasa at TIME OUT!

Hi friends!
It's time for another cool challenge at TIME OUT Challenges. We are super proud to be CASEing the very talented Donna Mikasa in our current challenge -do check out her blog three umbrellas if you are not familiar with it yet. I love the colors Donna uses in her cards... And the one we are CASEing is no exception (see the photo below). All the challenge details are in the challenge blog together with DT inspiration. Our guest designer this time is the talented Marzena. Play along and you might end up joining us too! :)

My first idea for the CASE was to use a stencil like Donna did and even to use her fab color combo... But then my new Avocado Arts stamps arrived and I ended up changing all my original plans! I used a couple of shades of blue and green Distress Inks for sponging the underwater background... And added some interest by stamping it with bubble wrap and water (I believe Donna stamped with a stencil and water). I was also inspired of Donna's gold embossing and used it for both the sentiment and the stamped sand. The hilarious bikini girl is colored with Copics. I'd like to dedicate my card to all the ladies enjoying summer... You all rock that bikini you are wearing! :)

Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you playing along at TIME OUT Challenges. Thank you Donna for the change to get to know you better and to CASE your fantastic card!

Monday 16 June 2014

New Sketch Challenge at STAMPlorations!


Hi friends!
It's time for a new fun sketch challenge at STAMPlorations. Click here for the challenge post! My take this time is super simplified but our other DT members and our fab guest designer Deepti have made amazing samples. You don't want to miss them! In my card I've used the soon to be released celebration-themed stamps (see the image below). I stamped a border with one of the cupcake stamps and used the It's Your Day Sentiment stamp as focal point. Some patterned paper and little pearls finish off the card! These stamps are now in pre-release sale -click here for all the details. They are fun to create with and can be used both for girly and masculine celebration cards. That's all from me now... I hope to see you at STAMPlorations!


Saturday 14 June 2014

Friends Forever

Hi friends!
Quick post to share a little card I made. The stamps are by Avocado Arts and I've colored the cute birdies with Copics. These are meant to be girls so I chose girly colors for the headwear! :)  I added some glossy accents to the goggles of the birds as only "embellishment" of this card. I gave this to CAS lover Sandie so wanted to keep things super CAS! :)  Thanks for popping by.

I'd like to enter:
http://open-mindedcraftingfun.blogspot.ca/ Things with wings
http://stampingwithdragon.blogspot.fi/ Clean and Simple

Thursday 12 June 2014

If friends were flowers... TIME OUT Challenge reminder!


Good morning blogland friends and greetings from a work trip in Sweden. :) Before heading towards the challenges of today I'm sharing a card to remind you of our current challenge at TIME OUT: Summer with the optional twist of flowers. If you choose to twist you have a chance to win a 25 $ gift voucher to CAS-ual Fridays Stamps -how cool is that! Please head on over to the challenge blog for all the details.

My card started a a sponged CAS-card: I sponged the kraft card base with white ink and then stamped the leaves to the corners. After doing that I messed up all the focal point stamping and had to cover it up and say goodbye to CAS-look... So I added the paper strips, a doily and a stamped flower panel! The flower is colored in with Copics and it's a HERO ARTS stamp, I colored it in London at Sandie's. Thanks for letting me to play with your stash, Sandie!

Work calls... Have a good day everyone and I hope to see you taking TIME OUT and joining us -there's still about one week to play along!


CASE this Sketch + Less Is More




Hi guys!
I'm here to share a card I made for CASE this Sketch (sketch above) and Less Is More: use your bedroom colors -we have grey walls and orange curtains! I used STAMPlorations stamps in creating my card. The stamp sets are called VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips and  VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows. This card is very simple and pretty true to CAS style -just some rhinestones to complete the look.

I'm abroad at the moment so this post is a quickie but I do want to bring  the pre-release sale at STAMPlorations to your attention -read all about it here. The new stamps are celebration-themed and FAB -check out the image below. :) That's all from me now, thanks for popping by and happy crafting!


Tuesday 10 June 2014

Seize The Moment





Hi there!
Today's card is for Retro Sketches, I really love their current sketch! It gave me the perfect opportunity to play with Art Deco Border Builders by STAMPlorations. The sentiment is also by STAMPlorations, it's from a set SUBWAY ART BUILDERS: Dare . I heat embossed the squares with white powder and I quite like the colors of this. I should stamp to patterned paper more often! Along with Retro Sketches I'm entering my card to Chocolate, Coffee and Cards: Embossing.

Before I go I want to let you know about the STAMPlorations stamps released in July. See the image below? These fabulous celebration-themed stamps are in pre-release sale until 20th of June. Read all about it here. Thanks for popping by, have a good week!



Sunday 8 June 2014

DIY Notebook + NBUS Challenge #1


Hi friends!
I'm here to share a DIY notebook I made for the Papertry Ink Make it Monday Challenge. It was very easy, quick and fun to make! The challenge was perfect for me: I've been thinking for days that I should have a notebook for Copic combos I come up with -I keep forgetting them! Since this was just for me to use in my craft room I could add some ribbon too -I don't need to carry this around.

This was the first time I used two new (new to me that is) sets from PTI: Beautiful Blooms II and Harvest Berries. I stamped the images with various Memento Inks and added a sentiment from Trendy Feathers Set by STAMPlorations . I used several different colors of cardstock leftovers for the pages so my scarps box liked this project too. :)

Since this was my first time using these PTI stamps I can link my project to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #1. Darnell is celebrating her 500 followers with a fun challenge, congratulations Darnell and thank you for this fun challenge! I'll definitely go through my stamps and find some SUPER OLD NBUS stamp for the challenge too. :) That's all from me now, thanks for popping by and have a great rest of the Sunday!

Saturday 7 June 2014

Clean and Simple at Inkspirational!


Hi friends!
Time for a new Inkspirational Challenge! It's a favorite of many and maybe a bit intimidating for some of you: Clean and Simple. If you haven't gone CAS before, have a look at the DT inspiration at the challenge blog -those fab cards will surely give you some ideas! We have a guest designer too, Sue: she makes BEAUTIFUL clean and simple cards so do check out her blog many ideas.

In my card I've used stamps from Uniko Studio. I was also inspired of the colors of the current Uniko Challenge (see photo below). This is an unusual color combo for me and I really like it! I've colored the flowers in with Copics but in a very simple, fast way -no blending or anything, I just used two markers and that's it. I cut the panel to four pieces for added interest. Small rhinestones complete the card. The colors are really lovely IRL, I wish the sun had been out when I took the photo so you'd get to see them better, the photo is a bit dull! Anyways, thanks for popping by and I hope to see you playing along at Inkspirational!


Friday 6 June 2014

Stamps and Borders at STAMPlorations!


Hi friends! Time for a new monthly challenge at STAMPlorations! In June we want to see borders -that could be all sorts of frames couldn't it. There's very creative DT inspiration here so you'll see there's lots of different ways to interpret this challenge. In the card of our talented guest designer Kim you'll see how to make beautiful borders with STAMPlorations all time favorite Trendy Feathers -do not miss it! Thanks Kim for joining us at STAMPlorations, what an inspirational card! If you win our challenge you get a chance to join us as guest designer too and there's even prizes: 2 stamp sets if you used STAMPlorations stamps in your entry and one set if you didn't. I can't wait to see what you'll make! Don't forget that if you participate in all 3 challenges we host this month you'll be in the running to win a prize package (photo below) courtesy of All About Scrapping



Then to my card! As you see it's a rather clean and simple card with sort of monochrome greenish-blueish color palette. :) I used Sentiment Builders: Happy and VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips in creating this card. One of the grunge floral strips was stamped repetitively to make the border -I used two ink colors for interest although that's a bit hard to see in the photo. IRL every other strip has a different shade! I'm in love with turquoise at the moment and want to add it to all of my cards. :) Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you at STAMPlorations!

I'd like to enter these challenges:
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.fi/ It is all about "s": stamps!
http://cceestampers.blogspot.fi/ Money or Green
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.fi/ All tied up
http://pictureandscrap.blogspot.fi/ Clean and Simple (my 2nd entry)

Thursday 5 June 2014

Summer Theme With Optional Twist of Flowers at TIME OUT!



Time for a new TIME OUT Challenge! We have a theme challenge for you: summer with the optional twist of "flowers". Very current, fun and easy, I hope to see you joining us! The challenge blog  is filled with inspiring DT samples -do check them out. Our guest designer this time is the talented Bobby, and her beautiful card is filled with floral summer feeling!

My summer flower comes from Hero Arts -I stamped and colored it one evening last week at Sandie's in London. Sandie had a wonderful Sakura glitter pen in her stash and I used if for highlights in the flower. I must get one of those!! The leaf die cut comes also from Sandie -back at home I gave it some color with blue and green gelato and water. I decided to give this as a birthday card for my MIL -she loves turqouise- so I added femine touches with lace, ribbon, some bling and pretty floral paper.  I hope you like! :)

As always, our winner at  TIME OUT  is invited as guest designer but this time we have a prize too: We are sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and everyone choosing the optional twist "flowers" enters a draw for a 25 $ gift voucher to CAS-ual Fridays store. Amazing, right! I'd definitely twist if I could enter. :) Time to take TIME OUT and craft, friends!

Id like to enter these challenges:
http://craftingmusketeers.blogspot.co.uk/ Stamped image
http://creativecolorschallenge.blogspot.fi/ Color palette + layers




Wednesday 4 June 2014

More stamping for Less Is More

Hi guys!
Just a quick post to share my second card for this week's Less Is More: use more than one stamp. I used the same Avocado Arts stamp set  than in my first entry. I really like playing with cute stamps like these, I guess I'm a bit childish! I had fun coloring the images with Copics and pencils (the pencils were used for the feather-look of the bird) and my last touch was to customize the gift boxes with white gel pen. Glossy Accent was a must for the bird's goggles. :) I hope you like my card and thanks for popping by!

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Thank You Card for a Guy


Hi friends!
Many of you know that I was visiting my blogging friend Sandie in London last week. We had the best time, it was SO FUN to meet in real life! I hope we get to meet soon again. Sandie and her husband were the most generous hosts. Sandie's husband took me for a run with spectacular views over London and he also made me my first ever Martini (James Bond style!), just to mention some of the treats during my stay! :) Thank yous are in order, of course for the lovely Sandie but also for her hubby who gets the card above. I wonder if Sandie will be getting a card? ;)

I've used stamps from Avocado Arts. How funny is that guy?!? I just love these cute stamps. I've used five stamps (2 of them are sentiments) so my card is perfect for this week's Less Is More: more than one stamp. I stayed away from kraft and used some sort of ribbon -mine is more like thread but looking at the DT cards it's okey!- so I can enter CAS-ual Fridays.  And last but not least, I was inspired of the Something Simple Challenge at Curtain Call. I was originally going to use twine but the all white inspiration photo at Curtain Call made me use white thread. I quite like how that looks! My image is colored with Copics and I also used white gel pen and glossy for small accents. I think monochrome cards are good for men, what do you think?

Before I go, here's me and Sandie smiling happily after a yummy Japanese lunch:


Thanks for popping by! :)


Monday 2 June 2014

New Sketch Challenge at STAMPlorations!



Hi guys,
June is here! That means we have a new trio of challenges for you at STAMPlorations: 2 sketch challenges -first one begins now and the second one on the 16th of June- and a monthly challenge beginning on the 6th of June. Enter all three and in addition to others prizes you have a change to win a monthly prize pack which is 3 Tim Holtz stencils, image below. Fun, right? Check out STAMplorations challenge blog for all the details for how to play along. 


I've used two STAMPlorations stamp sets in my card: SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Happy  and Distressed Floral Swirls. Below is a photo of my patterned paper before stamping: 


I stamped the distressed floral swirls with clear embossing powder and after heat setting it sponged the whole paper with DI Walnut Stain to cover up some of the blues and greens of the paper. The ink didn't cover up the black stripes but I think the look is quite funky! The sentiment is heat embossed with gold powder on vellum and I finished my card with  golden sequins. Hope you like! There's brilliant DT inspiration in the challenge blog, I hope you'll check out everyone's cards... Without forgetting our guest designer Monika! Happy crafting!

I'd like to enter: