Thursday, May 30, 2013

CONTEST: What would YOU like to see in a CHRISTMAS stamp? + DT: Summer

Hello Friends!

We are thinking of SUMMER as June is about to begin, but here at Inspired Stamps we are already thinking about our CHRISTMAS STAMP sets!!   We LOVE to make some of YOUR ideas into stamps, and try to do a stamp set every few months, that contains input from YOU!

CONTEST:  Leave us ONE comment per household here OR on our Facebook page between now and Sunday midnight letting us know:
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN A CHRISTMAS STAMP?  
Is there a Bible verse, some INSIDE the card sentiment, a character, an object or scene you'd like to see?  

BEFORE YOU POST!!  Please click HERE to see all the Christmas stamps we ALREADY HAVE (we don't want to make duplicates!)

WINNERS will have their suggestion made into a stamp and when it's produced, we will send you that stamp set FREE!!  We will announce our winners next week on the blog and Facebook page!

Ok, now let's get back to summer and the beautiful DT creations! 
Kary starts us off with His Little Ones:  Summer Girl:
Deneen has her counterpart, His Little Ones:  Summer Boy (look at those WAVES!) and our popular LABELMAKER ALPHABET for the banner:
Jenn used HIS PLANS FOR YOU:
And Chere used God' Creatures: Pets with Perfect Sentiments:

SHARE our contest  with your blogging or facebook friends and have them mention you in their comment!  If THEY are chosen to win, we'll send YOU that new Christmas Stamp set TOO, as a thank you for getting the word out about us!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 
Blessings,
Antoinette and the Thursday DT!!


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

2 minute video tutorial on using pastels with versamark ink...

Hello friends,
Here's a video on a great technique you may not have tried before in your card-making or art journaling!  We are working on a number of these 2 minute, no-talking, technique-focused video tutorials to give you quick instruction so you can go off and create on your own!  Leave us a comment if you watch it and let us know what you think:


                         Thanks so much for stopping by!
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com

New June Gratitude discounted set of 5 + Gratitude Art!

 Hello friends!
Today I am sharing the Gratitude art that usually comes on Sundays, but was postponed due to the OWH blog hop!  Above is our JUNE GRATITUDE set you can find at a discount WHILE SUPPLIES LAST at the online store under 'NEWEST STAMPS' or just click HERE and  you will go right to the stamp's page and you can scroll down until you see JUNE GRATITUDE SET!

Week 21 of our 52 Weeks of Gratitude has us with 1 Corinthians 13:13 and here is the Sunday Scripture DT artwork (DeNetra will be back tomorrow with a tutorial and then her Sunday Gratitude Art will return to Sundays!)
Anita's ATC:
 Belinda's card:

Have a blessed day and we will have a special video tutorial up for you in a little while!
Blessings,
Antoinette

Monday, May 27, 2013

Winners Announced!

Today we give thanks and remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom!  This weekend we participated in the Operation Write Home blog hop and were so blessed with so many comments and orders from our beloved friends and some wonderful new friends!  Thanks to everyone for your comments and support this weekend!  We hope you are all making cards for soldiers this week to send out to OWH!

We drew winners here and on the facebook page!  In order to claim your prize all you have to do is EMAIL us with your mailing address by Sunday, June 2nd and we will mail out your stamp set on Monday, June 3rd!  inspiredstamps@gmail.com

WINNERS OF THE HIS LITTLE ONE SOLDIER BOY:
Seongsook Duncan
 mtscrapgal
 MaryS
 postalorphan
Becca Whitham
Tanya Wiles

WINNERS OF THE MORE PERFECT SENTIMENTS SET:
Michele Smith 
 Brittany Snoke
 Cheryl Fricker
 Michele from MS

Thanks so much to EVERYONE that made cards, were part of the OWH blog hop, or came by and supported those who had blogs on the hop!  What a great weekend!

We will be back with several posts Tuesday, including our Gratitude Art (usually on Sunday) and several posts for our Stamping Mixed Media tutorials!

Have a blessed Memorial Day!
God bless,
Antoinette 

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Background Paper TUTORIAL: Operation WRITE HOME bloghop + SALE + Giveaway!!

Hello friends!  I am SO EXCITED it's the Operation Write Home BLOG HOP weekend!  Having been the very blessed wife to my Army husband for the past 24 years, and raised 2 children through several years worth of deployments, moved 18 times in 24 years of marriage, and been enriched through lots of travel and amazing friendships with other military families...I truly have a sweet spot in my heart for all military and their families! I love that OWH has stepped in and provided such a wonderful service.  And without further ado, we shall begin our celebration.

In honor of this weekend, the military, and this blog hop, all of the INSPIRED STAMPS military/Independence category stamps are ALREADY marked down for you!  You can shop at:  www.inspiredstamps.com this weekend and get these great deals to make your own cards to send off to our troops!  We will have ALL orders placed this weekend out the next business day in the mail!


We are also having a  Giveaway:


WIN THE 'More Perfect Sentiments' clear stamp set
 and our His Little Ones: Soldier Boy!  Just leave us a comment by Monday noon and we'll choose some winners for these stamp sets!!  Winner announced in Monday night's post here and on our FACEBOOK page (come like us!)
  His Little Ones:  soldier 

Here is the tutorial followed by the cards:
To make the background paper:
1.  RANDOMLY stamp your largest image, trying to make a 'triangle' each time you have your stamp down.  So here is the first set of 3 I stamped in a triangle manner using a stamp from the Psalm 91 Protection stamp set:
 Then using 2 of the 3 stars I stamped as my guide I add another stamped star (notice those 3 stars also make a 'triangle' shape)
 Keep stamping until you have your entire piece of paper (6x6 here) stamped.  It looks best if some of the stamps are partly off the paper:
 Next I took the 3 stars from the same stamp set and arranged them like so.  I again will stamp the paper using somewhat of a triangle stamping formation to keep it looking even:

 The 3rd stamp is your smallest and it gets to 'fill in' the areas that are left:
 2.  NEXT:  you will need sticky notes.  I use a triangle form, but you could use squares, circles, hexagons, whatever you like.  I use these as masks (meaning they are giving me a line I want and keeping the ink off the rest of the paper:
 I sponge tea dye first, then the walnut stain only on the edges of the sticky paper.  Start sponging on the sticky paper and move into your triangle to get a smoother sponging!
 When I remove the sticky notes, this is what I have:
Using one of the sides of the above inked triangle as my guide, I set up another triangle with sticky notes:
 Below I show you that the sticky note that is slightly raised leaves a little white off of the edge of the sticky note so that there will be some white lines in between each triangle:
I finished triangle #2 with the white line.  If you smudge (you can see one of mine in this shot below), no big deal, just make sure that gets ink when you set up the sticky note triangle that covers it:
 Here's an edge further into the inking:
 And the sides I put the sticky note off the paper so that it will get sponged too:
 Here is my handmade background paper using only Inspired Stamps and Distress Inks.  You can do this is ANY color (reds or greens at Christmas; pastels in spring; blues, etc):
 3.  Cut your paper based on what you need,  I made 2 cards using this 6x6 background piece and the OWH SKETCH #96 for this one ...INK THE EDGES OF EVERYTHING YOU CUT!! 


 (and Sketch #42 for the next one)


I used Copic Markers shown below for the His Little Ones Characters (HLO: Soldier with helmet and HLO: Soldier Boy): E 33 & 37 for the uniforms and one pair of boots, E 30, 34, 55, and YR17(not shown) for the hair;  E000, 01, and 02 for the skin; C8 & C2 for the 'black' boots (not shown) 

 The text on each is from the MORE PERFECT SENTIMENTS stamp set.

I created this guideline you can use for other soldier coloring:
Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

May God bless you!
Antoinette and all of us at Inspired Stamps

Now be sure leave us a comment to be entered in our giveaway before you head over to see the rest of the amazing blog hop:
OPERATION WRITE HOME BLOG HOP...CLICK HERE

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Day 15 Stamping Mixed Media tutorial + DT THURSDAY characters!

Hello friends!  Just 2 days until the Operation Write Home blog hop and we are getting ready!!  Today is Day 15 of our 31 Days of Stamping Mixed media and I wanted to share a simple MASKING technique with you using our newest couple in the Inspired Stamps online store:  His Little Ones: Bride and His Little Ones: Groom (Kary did the artwork above showing the finished product!):

First you stamp your bride (because she will be in front of his hand...whatever you want to appear IN FRONT is stamped first):

 Then on blue sticky back paper (post it note with STICKY side where the groom will be) I stamp her again.
 I only need to trim on the left side since his arm will come behind this side of her.  Make sure to trim right up to the black lines.
Place the trimmed sticky note EXACTLY upon the original stamped paper (right on top of her on the white paper).

 Then ink up your stamp on a clear block and stamp him where you want him to stand next to her.  See how his arm and part of his head stamps onto the blue sticky backed paper? 
Ta Da!  He looks like he's behind her.  If you don't line it up perfectly, you'll see some 'white' between his arm and her veil.  I usually just add some black line.  Here's Kary's card and the rest of the DT for this week:
Kary:
Deneen's card using HLO: Summer Girl and Solid Alphabet LOWER cased stamps:


Jenn using HLO: Thankful boy, Background stamps, and Psalm 139:23:
 Chere made this waterfall card using HLO: praying boy, James 1:2, and Prayer


Patty made her look a little rustic with less ink on her eyes using HLO:girl praying
MONDAY I have a great 2 minute tutorial for you using pan pastels and versamark that you'll not want to miss!  Saturday is our bloghop with OWH and Sunday is another day with Gratitude Art!!

Have a great day!
Blessings,
Antoinette