I love the colour and vibrancy of Alcohol Inks but I have previously felt them to be somewhat limited for using in card making (although still fun). The first ones I made were using very intense colours and I ended up using them as the entire card background and stuck metal charms to them as the embellishments because a stamped image would not have shown up and it seemed a waste to stick something bigger over the top. I used offcuts as partial backgrounds for other images and also cut out … [Read more...]
Making Brushos Backgrounds for Cards
This post is based on making Brushos backrounds for cards. Brushos are watercolour ink crystals that react amazingly with water. They come in a wide range of colours and many of the colours further separate out into various different hues so there is a huge potential for colour combinations and effects. It has been a while since I've blogged about the regular get-togethers my friend Steph and I have to try out different card making techniques and to use some of the new 'toys' we have bought … [Read more...]
Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs
I am having so much fun with Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs and Crazy Cats stamp sets. Here are some examples of cards I've made ... I think Tim Holtz can read my mind! First there was the Crazy Birds stamp set that I have adored. Then he brought out Crazy Cats which were just as much fun (see my earlier post). While I was colouring them using my Copic markers I was thinking that he really needed to bring out Crazy Dogs as well. Then just two weeks' later I saw videos the pre-release of the Crazy … [Read more...]
Getting Started with Copic Markers
How on earth do you start your collection when there are 358 marker colours to choose from and there is no way you can afford to buy them all (and certainly not all at the same time)? I started with just a few colours and was very pleased with the combinations I was able to get. I tried them out on my new Tim Holtz' Crazy Cats and even managed to get a passable ginger cat without having an orange marker. I'll share these colour combinations for you in this post. I have been crafting and … [Read more...]
Bird Crazy Occasions
It has been a year of occasions and celebrations, so I thought I'd share some of the cards I have made using Tim Holtz' Bird Crazy stamps. You will have seen in earlier posts how my obsession with these incredibly versatile characters started and some of the different series I have experimented with. They have been fabulous for making large cards for people at work: using a piece of A4 sized card folded over gives plenty of room for the whole team to sign the card; and for making smaller … [Read more...]
More Crazy Bird Cards
In an earlier post I described how I'd become hooked on Tim Holtz' Bird Crazy stamps. Here are some more of my Crazy Bird cards. This time I tried a 'Beside the Seaside' series perfect for the kiwi summer. Following on from my 'Girls on the Town' series, I thought I would make some more Masculine cards (inspired by cards I had seen elsewhere - I particularly liked the Men in Black one). And inspired by my sister-in-law who just loves books, I tried a 'Bookworms' … [Read more...]
Crazy Birds Cards
Tim Holtz' Bird Crazy stamps have been taking the stamping world by storm and I have become totally hooked on these incredibly versatile characters. When I first saw the stamps I didn't particularly like them because I thought they were too angular for my taste. But then I started to see what people were doing with them and I just had to have them. They have taken over my world and I've been trying all sorts of different themes and challenges to stretch my imagination. I had made over 30 … [Read more...]
Wax Paper Resist Challenge
My friend Steph and I have regular ‘play dates’ where we get together to try out different products and techniques that we can use in making cards. At the end of the session we split the backgrounds between us (we often make 2 of each) and challenge each other to use them to make finished cards. It never ceases to amaze me how different two cards can be even when they start with the same material. Steph has kindly let me show some of her cards in my blog. So I will show you some of the … [Read more...]
Fun Cards for Older Kids
In earlier posts I have written about how I have five nephews and how most of my kids' cards are based around boy themes. When the boys were younger, I had a stamp of a stick figure boy in shorts and a t-shirt and challenged myself to represent as many different boys' pastimes as I could on cards using the stick figure boy. As they got a bit older I found a great stamp that featured 3 boys with balls. I cut the stamp up so that I could use the boys in different combinations, … [Read more...]
Digital Stamps: Cards for Kids
A relatively new addition to the stable of card making tools are digital stamps (or digi stamps). I must admit that I had been struggling with the concept and how it could really be compared with stamping using physical stamps and inks. I guess they are just a different format. Digital stamps certainly do have their advantages: You can print off a high quality image each time and colour it in You can print off a whole lot at a time for later use (saving time later) They come at a … [Read more...]