Happy 5th Birthday STAMPlorations

Woohoo, STAMPlorations is 5 years old and the STAMPgirls are celebrating the whole month long!

We are each sharing 3 of our favourite makes and asking you to CASE either our choices or the new cards inspired by them.

I had a really difficult time whittling it down to just 3 cards but here they are in date order!

I love this card and on my blog it is one of the cards that still attracts interest. Since it was posted in June 2015 there's been over 4500 visits to the original post. 

This Blooming Buds stamp by Dee is one of my fave sets, the cosmos style flowers go together so well and are a dream to colour, Copics in this instance. The original design was for the sketch challenge, I do love a good sketch, which I've used quite a lot since as it's good to have a good layout in the bank for when the need arises!

My second card from 2016, uses another of my favourite stamps, the big and bold daisies from Bloom Sketches. In fact I think it was the first set I bought way back in 2014 as part of the STAMPclub membership.

For this card I went with a more artsy style, using masking fluid and Brusho/ Infusion ink crystals and a vellum wrap overlay. Again it is the result of a sketch challenge way back in July 2016, told you I liked a sketch!

Finally I've gone with a die cut design, love a good die cut too, and this is another popular card on my blog.

Originating back in  May 2017, it again was based on one of Shery's fab sketches. I combined some bold polka dot paper and citrous yellow highlights with the sentiment Celebrate and just one of the flower dies from Trendy Spring Blooms. The stamped sentiment is from the World Birthday Cakes set.

Now which one do I choose to CASE?

If you are not sure what we mean by CASE, then put simply -

Take inspiration from the layout, colour choices and/or stamps used and put your own spin on it.

I couldn't decide so I went with all three!

For this case I went with the same colour pallette and stamp set and a little bit of the layout (lots of white, a stamped and coloured panel and a strip of colour against the white.

This CASE uses the same Blooming Buds stamps as the original but the wavy edge was the CUTplorations Winter Landscape die, with the trees and house snipped off. The pink mount was the same but I trimmed the stitching off too before colouring it with Copics to match the blooms. The sentiment is from the Balloons and Banners set.

My second CASE went with the artsy element of the original as well as the same Bloom Sketches daisies.

To start I took a panel of  MM paper and stamped my flowers with Weathered wood DI and added some stems. Next, I took a paint brush and with some plain water painted around the flowers a little at a time, adding Sea Green Brusho crystals to the bottom and Prussian Blue to the top before the water dried. You have to add the Brusho before the water dries so that the magic will happen!

When the background was dry, I coloured the daisies using my Zig brushes, keeping two of the daisies soft and looser to suggest distance.

The sentiment was added once the panel was dried and trimmed down, CUTplorations Happy and birthday from the Balloons and Banners set embossed in white on black.

My last CASE uses the same black and white DP but another of the Trendy Spring Blooms dies and a yellow Fabulous word die cut but in a square format, 4 flowers instead of 3.

Just for a change, I went with a square card for this, cutting a panel of DP and then gluing it to a panel of white fun foam of the same size. When dry, I cut the blooms in a random pattern around the edge.

My panel was then attached to my white base card and the die cut flower outlines were replaced and glued in place. I cut some circle of white card a with a circle punch, coloured the centers with Copics and added to the flower centers. I did the same with the fabulous die and added the Hello and You, from Flowers and Frames, on panels of white card.

So here are my fave 3 and their CASES. What will you choose?

So I hope I have inspired you to CASE one of my cards, I'd love it if you did.

Don't forget you can get 20% off at the STAMPlorations shop by using my discount code -

I'd like to share over at:-

 

                                             In the Garden

 

 This daisy stamp dates from 2014                                                             

   

                                                 Inspired by the pink flowers and white icing on the cupcake

My favourite card shape is a simple A6 top fold, it's such an economical use of card, two per A4 sheet and no waste, and it suits my CAS style.

  

AG

Unless Beechy is allowed instead of beachy, Beech being my surname!