Thursday, May 31, 2012

Design Team Thursday: Military Characters...

Hello friends!

Thursday is our last day to use the 25% off coupon:
Today our DT has some BEAUTIFUL artwork using our His Little Ones soldiers and the 3x4 soldier stamps:
Kary has a close up of the soldier stamp above and here is her card:

Belinda's card:


 Anita's card:


 
Gaby:
Aren't they so cuuuuuuuuttttte?

Have a blessed day and I'll be back soon with more artwork!
Blessings,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com  Shipping orders SAME DAY as most are placed!!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Displaying your cards and artwork...

Hello friends!
Today I wanted to share with you an idea I found that I tweaked a little.  The original idea I saw is to take old frames and have photos hanging from them, but I saw that and thought, "What a GREAT way to display cards and other artwork!".

I took a couple of frames I got for a few dollars on sale that came without glass (I had no clue what I would use them for, but I knew I'd find something! LOL).  I tied some black twine to the sides above the metal pieces one would use to close the backing of a photo frame in (this keeps the twine from sliding down the frame).  Here's another frame I have and part of this wall I have in my studio for displaying Inspired Stamps artwork:
I need to tighten the lower one, but you can see that even a 'heavy' panel, like the 5x7 canvas art I put on the top can be held by the clothes pin (black) without any effort!  Here's that panel:
Tomorrow is Design Team Thursday AND the last day to use our 25% off coupon code on your total purchase in the online store:
Have a blessed day and THANK YOU for stopping by today,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com  Shipping SAME DAY most orders are placed to get your stamps to you as fast as possible!!

Monday, May 28, 2012

More Operation Write Home Cards + Winners announced!



Hello and Happy Memorial Day!
All of us here at Inspired Stamps wish all of you a very happy Memorial Day!  We thank all who serve and have served in the military for our country, remembering those who paid the ultimate price so that we could be free.  May God bless our military and their families!

Today Kary, from our Design Team, has created a few Operation Write Home cards using Inspired Stamps!  Be sure to go back one post to see our card and coloring tutorial for the soldier stamps we sell.  You can also link up to the OWH site to see all the beautiful artwork people have made!

We chose 4 comments from this weekend's bloghop to win some of our His Little Ones Soldier stamps and here they are...each had requested the SAILOR stamp!:
BunnyFreak,
Caro,
KellyRae,
and Sassy

Congratulations ladies!  You have until SUNDAY June 3rd to email us at inspiredstamps@gmail.com with your MAILING address so we can send you your HLO: SAILOR stamp set out to you!

A big thank you to Kary for her beautiful artwork above and these, too!:
Have a beautiful Memorial Day and we will be back soon with more artwork!
Blessings,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com (We will be shipping ALL Memorial Day weekend orders out Tuesday morning!!)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Operation Write Home Blog Hop plus GIVEAWAYS!

Hello friends!
This Memorial Day Weekend we celebrate all of those soldiers and families stationed across the globe and here stateside, those serving now and all those who have served before!  We all here at Inspired Stamps want to say a special THANK YOU to all of you who have served, are serving, are about to serve, and of course the many families who have loved ones serving or have served!!

I have been an Army wife for 23 years and my Army husband and I  have raised two children who know what it's like to move!  We have moved 18 times in 23 years, lived in many states and 5 years in Europe, been through deployments before email was available and a phone call every so often was our only way to communicate except for snail mail! Most recently, 2 years ago, we got to experience Skype as my husband was deployed to Iraq for a year.  While there, he was unaware of Operation Write Home, but would have loved to have this wonderful organization's cards!

I was introduced to Operation Write Home last summer when Jan Hunnicutt (who does the Midweek Throwdown challenges over at the OWH blog) became one of Inspired Stamps very first Design Team members!  I love that they organize cards to go to the servicemen (so many don't get mail often from loved ones!).  But equally amazing is the cards that are sent to the service members to send home to their own family members!  I would have loved to receive one of these cards!!  What a special service this is!!

So today Inspired Stamps is participating in the blog hop!  And offering the 25%off special in honor of all who make cards for service members and their families at our online store.

We were asked to choose a sketch to follow and here is what we created using Inspired Stamps and sketch #26:
 I just found honeycomb paper at Archivers and Joann's and I LOVE IT!  I cut out a heart that opens up when you open the card!  Next to the heart is one of our Inspired Stamps military characters called His Little Ones: Soldier Boy.  I thought this would be a cute way to make the INSIDE of the card show it's from the soldier!  What a sweet surprise!
I wanted to add a photo from a tutorial I shared in coloring our military characters, but this post is going to get too long and you have lots more to see, so here is a picture of some of the $4.99 HLO characters followed by the Copic Markers I use to color the soldiers:

Would you like to win one of the Soldier Stamps you see above?  All you have to do is leave us a comment about which one you like BEST and we'll choose a few winners from the comments and announce them in Monday's Memorial Day Artwork Post here on the blog!  Be sure to come back then to see if you win and then claim your prize by emailing us!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to head over to the online store and see all the military and Scripture stamps we have while our 25%off your TOTAL PURCHASE sale is still on:
www.inspiredstamps.com

Then head over to the OWH blog to see ALL the wonderful artwork that the many participants have created for this blog hop by clicking HERE


 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Blessings,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com  We ship MOST orders the SAME DAY they are placed! 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Memorial Day SALE starts TODAY + DT: Cards for the Men

Hello Friends!
Today begins our week-long Memorial Day Sale at the online store: www.inspiredstamps.com !  When you checkout, enter the code MEMDAY and you'll see 25% taken off of each stamp you order!!  Hurry, this sale is gone when May is gone!

Today's DT made cards to inspire you that are meant to be given to the men in your life.  With Father's Day coming up, the set Men of Favor has been a popular purchase by card-makers and several of the DT have used this set!

Kary starts us off with her handsome HLO: Thankful Boy on this Father's Day card:
Jamie made two adorable cards:

Belinda's  Scripture card:

Gaby's card:
Anita's card:

Don't forget to join us SATURDAY for our blog hop with Operation Write Home!  If you're interested in seeing Honeycomb Paper used with our stamps, you will want to tune in!!  Did I mention there will be several giveaways that day? :o)

Blessings,
Antoinette



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Mixed Media Scripture Canvas Class using Inspired Stamps

Hello friends!
Today I have a few of the creations made in a Mixed Media Scripture Canvas Class I taught last week.  Above is a close up of one of the Scriptures we used from the set GUARD YOUR HEART.  Here is the sample I made up using modeling paste, gesso, color sprays, collage, an old hymnal and lots of ink and paper towels!
A big thank you to the following gals who attended the class and were willing for me to share their finished canvases here:
Sandy Vanover made this one:
Julie Sturgeon created this:
Anita Randall made this one:
I just love the different colors and styles these ladies used!

Thursday begins our Memorial Day sale plus some gorgeous Design Team artwork!  On SATURDAY, be sure to come back and see us as we participate in the Operation Write Home blog hop!!  We'll have giveaways and lots of artwork to inspire you!!

Thanks so much for all of your support of Inspired Stamps!
Blessings,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com

Thursday, May 17, 2012

AMAZING Design Team 'Anything But A Card' artwork + Huge Memorial Day celebration coming next week!

Hello friends!
Inspired Stamps is having a HUGE Memorial Day week celebration starting with next Thursday and lasting through the following Thursday so be sure to tune in!  Operation Write Home, an organization dedicated to getting cards to deployed service members to receive and send to their own families, is sponsoring a Memorial Day Blog Hop that Inspired Stamps is participating in!  We'll be giving away a number of stamps to comments left on Memorial Day and the Tuesday following it!

Today Kary starts us off with her GORGEOUS Card tote!!  You can see a close up above, where she used the Lovely Lace set as a background, along with Esther's Bouquet, one of our beloved characters!  Here's her tote followed by the rest of the Design Team.  Many of the DT have step by step instructions or templates on their blogs, so be sure to click the names of the gals to see their blog post!

Kary:
Jenn:
Jamie:


Gaby:
Anita:
Belinda


Chere's Scripture Cards with holder:


Aren't these creations GORGEOUS and oh, so CLEVER?  I want to make them ALL!!

Leave us a comment and let us know if you'll be making some of these projects the DT has inspired!

Blessings,
Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com
Shipping most orders the SAME DAY they are placed to get your stamps to you as fast as possible!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Design Team Thursday: Gorgeous Creations!

Hello Friends!
This weekend is a busy weekend for us and for many families!  My son is graduating from college plus we have Mother's Day on Sunday!  I thank you for stopping by today to see the DT's creations...they are so beautiful!

Above Kary has dazzled us with this beautiful teaser!  Her card and the rest of the DTs beautiful creations follow!  THANK YOU DT for all your hard work this week!
Kary
Jenn
Anita
Jamie
Belinda
Gaby
Chere
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
You can click on the DT names to go to their sites to see their creations:
Anita
Belinda
Chere
Gabrielle
Jamie
Jenn
Kary
We are shipping orders out the SAME DAY as most orders are placed on our website!  Be sure to check out the convenience of an e-Gift Card at the website for all your gift-giving needs: www.inspiredstamps.com

Blessings and Thanks for all your support of Inspired Stamps,
Antoinette