Card Making Classes

My friend Penny has done a couple of the online card making classes given by Jennifer McGuire and thoroughly enjoyed them.  I signed up for Clean and Simple 2, which started a couple of days ago and is basically the art of simple, well designed cards that feature lots of stamping.  Our day one project was to make a card inspired by one of the sketches they posted on the lesson plan, and this is the card I came up with.

 

 

I've decided to use the class to get a good head start on my Christmas cards... yes, I realise it's only January but I truly need a BIG head start!  I really enjoyed using the techniques explained in the class and had a wonderful time rediscovering some of the old stamps that have been hiding in my stash for years!

Be My Bear

This little bear is about to surprise his very special Valentine with a big candy heart!  This image would also work well for birthday cards, Thinking of You, I'm Sorry, I Love You, I Miss You... just about anything really.

 

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Eret created this gorgeous chocolate packet.

Viv made a sweet red and white Valentine greeting.

I printed the image on dark brown cardstock and then

used white and light browns to colour the highlights.

Beccy's Place Birthday Bash!!

We're One!

My online digital store is a whole year old today, which means it's time to celebrate with freebies, random giveaways, technique tutorials, challenges and a digi sale!  Too much to fit into a single day, so we've decided to celebrate for a whole month!  Yep, things are going to be hoppin' all through February so make sure you dust off your mojo, cancel your chores and crack open that huge stash you've been hiding from hubby!

 

Let's take a quick peak inside our goody bag to see what's in store for February....

 

20% off digi sale at Beccy's Place

Starts tomorrow!

 

Weekly Card Challenges

One random winner per week will receive three free images of their choice.

Everyone who enters all four challenges will go into a draw at the end of February for a chance to win ten images of choice!

 

Lots of freebie images!

Snag 'em while they're hot!

 

Random Comment Winners

Every day a random comment will be chosen, winning its author a digital image of their choice.

 

Technique Tutorials

Learn something new, or revist an old favourite!

Floods

We've just had a very exciting start to our week with torrential rain and damaging winds that caused some very extensive flooding... some say it was the worst flood our area has seen in 60 years!  Our town was completely cut off by rising flood water that peaked when the high tide forced even more water up the river.  Thankfully no houses were actually inundated and no one in our town was hurt, but sadly there were six deaths recorded in the region.

 

We lost power on Sunday evening after uprooted trees and falling branches took out a lot of the power lines in the district, and since we live in a rural area and collect our own water in tanks (cisterns) that are attached to electric pumps, we also lost running water to the house.  Our power was restored to us this afternoon at 4pm, 67 hours after it went off.

 

Needless to say, we're very thankful the flood water is starting to recede and that our family and friends are safe and well.  It's certainly been an eventful start to the year!

 

 

This is the river that runs alongside our little town.  The banks of the river are usually at the base of the trees.

 

The police sealed off the road when it got too deep for people to drive through.  This is the western exit from our town.

 

The bridge out of town.  The water you see in the foreground is supposed to be a paddock!  The river bank is supposed to be on the opposite side of the trees you can see at the right hand edge of the photo.

 

No primary school for two days!  The high school that our oldest daughter attends is closed until Monday.

 

This is the northern exit out of town.  What looks like a river on the left hand side of the photo is actually an access road.

Mark Your Calendar

February Birthday Bash

Beccy's Place Digital Images is almost one year old!  We'll be celebrating all through February with lots of prizes, challenges, freebies and more.  Crack open that stash of special goodies, drag your mojo out into the sunshine and make sure you save plenty of time for creating!

The fun starts on February 1st

Tutorial - Diamond Fold Card

This is a pretty little card that folds up into a nice, tidy 4" square.  It reminds me of the Japanese art of origami because of the folds required to create it, but fortunately it's not too complicated for those of us who could never quite line up our folds!

 

 

1. Start with a 12" x 4" piece of sturdy, double-sided, patterned paper.  Cardstock really isn't suitable for this card as it's too heavy for the folds required.

 

2. Score the paper at 2" and 10", then crease firmly along the score lines.

 

3. Hold a ruler vertically along the mid-line of the paper, which is at 6".  Fold the right hand side of the paper down along the ruler as shown in the picture below.  Crease firmly.

 

4. Repeat for the left hand side, bringing the two edges together.  Crease firmly.

 

5.  Unfold the paper and turn it around on your score board so that the previous two creases now form a "V".

 

6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 pressing all the creases firmly.

 

7. Unfold your paper.  You should have a number of intersecting creases that form a diamond shape in the centre of the card.  Crease all of the folds again, one way and then the other (mountain then valley) so that you have plenty of movement in the creases.

 

8. On either side of the diamond you will notice several triangles.  Hold the paper so that one of the ends is facing downward.  Press your thumbs into the triangles and bring all of the creases together lining them up carefully.  Press the folds firmly.

 

9.  Repeat step 8 on the other end of the paper.  Remember to press the creases firmly so the card holds it's shape.

 

10.  All that's left is the decoration.  I used a stamped image from Flourishes, an old corner stamp from my stash and a scallop edge punch to decorate my card.  I then made a ribbon loop that slides on and off to hold the card closed (see the first image).  Have fun!

Valentine Pony

My oldest daughter loves drawing ponies and she's exceptionally good at it too.  She gave me a lesson a couple of weeks back, and although this isn't the original pony I drew, it is a direct descendent... many times revised!

 

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My card

 

Viv's Card

 

Eret's Card

 

Challenge Card

The challenge over at Card Camp was to create a card using three components from a bingo grid.  I went with "red", "designer paper" and "ribbon" to make this Thank You card that features gorgeous Flourishes stamps, coloured with pencils.

 

My Big News!!!

I am so excited to announce that some of my designs have been made into rubber stamps!  I was contacted late last year by the lovely ladies from Sparkle N Sprinkle to ask if I would be interested in working with them to produce a line of stamps... well, of course I said YES!! and now they are ready and available for purchase.

 

Sparkle N Sprinkle

 

This set is called "Shabby Chic Birdhouse" and it measures approximately 5" x 5".  You can purchase it as a sheet of rubber only stamps for $13.99 or for an extra $4.50 you can have it mounted on foam for use with an acrylic block.

 

This set is called "Just Froggy" and it also measures approximately 5" x 5".  It is the same price as the "Shabby Chic Birdhouse" set and comes with the same mounting options.

Free Silhouette Image

Grab your inks, your pens and your paints to create a beautiful background for this silhouette image.  Playing with colour is lots of fun and you can achieve some wonderful effects by mixing colours and mediums on your papers.  Alternatively, try printing this out on some of your favourite patterned papers... it's a great way to use up your stash of offcuts!

 

 

image © Beccy Muir

Napkin Art Candles

I attend a stamping club with lots of lovely and talented ladies.  A few months ago one of them showed us how to make cards using paper napkins or serviettes.  It was a surprisingly simple process with basic tools and supplies that most of us would have lying around our craft studios.

Anyway, another lovely, generous lady gave me a little pile of gorgeous napkins that she had collected for her stash.  I took them home, looked up napkin art and found that they can be used on all sorts of items, including candles. 

 

There are lots of great tutorials online, so I won't recreate the wheel, but I do encourage you to give them a try... I warn you now though, this process is extremely addictive and you will require more than one candle!!

Tutorial - Diaper Fold Pouch

Diaper fold pouches are not cards in the traditional sense of the word, but they are fun to create and if you're looking for something different to send to someone, then they are the perfect little project.

 

 

 

1.  Start with a large square of sturdy, double-sided paper.  It doesn't really matter what size you choose since this card isn't made based on measurements (isn't that nice for a change??).  For those of you who like to have an idea of size, I used an 9" square.

 

2.  Fold the paper diagonally, corner to corner and press the crease firmly.

 

3.  Use a grid mat with a diagonal guide line to find the centre of your folded paper.  Mark the centre with a small pencil line.

 

4.  Bring the top corner of the paper down to the mark you made in step three and crease firmly.

 

5.  Unfold.  The crease you created in step 4 will form the guide line for the next couple of steps.

 

6.  Bring the right hand corner into the middle, lining up the edge of the paper with the crease line you created earlier.  Do the same for the left hand corner.

 

7.  Trim down the two points so that they fit together without overlap.  This helps to reduce bulk and keeps the pocket sitting nicely.  Secure them with some double sided tape or glue.

 

8.  Bring the top flap down over the two corners and secure with double sided tape or glue.  You've now created the pouch.

 

9.  Cut a square of cardstock or sturdy double sided paper to fit inside your pocket.  Stamp it with an appropriate sentiment and decorate as desired.  Have fun!