Thursday, May 30

Selected, retired digital stamps at an incredibly low
price for just 48 hours. No rainchecks. No repeats.

digital stamp
$1.00
48 hours only

Wednesday, May 29

It's Show Time!

June 6th - 9th 2019
10am - 4pm daily
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Southbank

We'll be at stand C20... come say hi!

Monday, May 27

Karin's Card Collection

Karin has been hard at work in her craft room creating a fabulous set of cards with the new Winnie and Wally digital stamp set. Her top tips for creating sets of cards to gift to someone or to sell at a market or stall is to use similar colours and patterned papers with just small changes from card to card. It also helps to have consistency with the dies you use - Karin has opted for circles and squares - as well as coordination in the embellishments. Not everything needs to be exactly the same, but everything should work well together.

Karin's colour guide for the third card in the set.

Saturday, May 25

Starry Night

Who doesn't love a starry night, with a blanket of sparkling gems high overhead, a balmy breeze scented with tropical flowers and the gentle lull and hush of the ocean?

It's amazing what a difference the background can make to a project. Don't forget to try out different techniques with your markers, paints and inks... you'll be surprised by the impact you can have on the mood and design of your creation.



Wednesday, May 22

Watercolour & Pencil

A couple of days ago I showed you the painted and coloured image of my three boats, which I have since made into a card. I decided to keep things relatively simple by trimming the watercolour card into a square with lots of white space at the top. A sentiment and partial border frame everything nicely and the deep blue card is a nice calm base to display my boats.


Monday, May 20

Watercolour + Pencils

After colouring my boats with watercolour paints, I noticed they were a little too "light" in the water and needed some anchoring. It's surprisingly dark between the bottom of a real boat and the top of the water, so I really needed to deepen the shadows, which I did with Prismacolor pencils. I also added some depth to the inside of each boat and highlighted the ropes a little more.


Saturday, May 18

Judy's Creations


We've been invited to Judy's studio today to see her latest off-the-page project,
a beautiful altered letter in gorgeous shades of pink, purple and yellow.


Judy printed, coloured and fussy cut the picture of Winnie to use as the main focal image on her project. She then concentrated on Winnie's little bunch of flowers, printing them out several more times in different sizes to use as embellishments. Bright, happy colours and a touch of glitter and she has a wonderful project that would look fabulous in any little nursery or child's bedroom.



Wednesday, May 15

Everything Papercraft - Journaling



Journaling, in scrapbooking, is a technique in which written memories, facts, dates, names and places are recorded alongside photographs and memorabilia on a scrapbook page, referred to as a “layout”. Journaling is one of the leading reasons that scrapbooking became so popular again in recent years. The frustration of not knowing who was being depicted in old photographs, or where and when the photographs were taken lead to a resurgence in what is now a worldwide practice.

There are many products that can be purchased specifically for the purpose of journaling, including archival pens, journaling tags, cards and even books to teach you how to journal!  It is without doubt one of the most valuable practices that modern scrapbookers use on their pages and will provide an intimate look at family and social life for generations to come.


 

Tuesday, May 14

Hot Tip Tuesday


Today's hot tip is save all those little bits that are left over from your border punches. Many of them are tiny shapes - hearts, flowers, snowflakes, etc. - that can be used as embellishments for your cards or scrapbook pages. I always save the tiny snowflakes from one of my punches and bundle them up in bags to use on Christmas cards and holiday albums. They're fabulous little additions that add just the right amount of pizzazz to a project!


Monday, May 13

Lakeside with Jackie


Today, we're off on a sailing adventure with the lovely Jackie Trinder. She has a fabulous collection of cards to share with us using the new clear stamp set titled Lakeside


This first awesome project is called a Step Panel card. Jackie has shared a few views so that you can get an idea of how the card is assembled. As you can see, it stands up beautifully for display, but then also folds nice and flat for postage. Jackie has included a colour chart with this project for anyone who's interested in what was used.


Check out the fabulous patterned paper Jackie made for the next couple of cards. This is another great way to use your stamps and inks, or your digis if you prefer.


I've saved this card and tag till the last because it's my favourite. The darker colours make me think of stormy seas, and I really love the stark contrast of the white embossing. Gorgeous!


Saturday, May 11

Personalising Digital Stamps


One of the best things about using digital stamps is that they often come coloured and ready to use, which is especially handy if you're in a hurry. But have you thought about adding a few tweaks of your own to make the image more personal?


I kept things pretty simple by adding a few additional details to a coloured version of "Wally" with black, white and gold pens. You could add accessories or features to personalise a card for someone special.


Here he is on a card...


Wednesday, May 8

Tutorial - Venetian Blind Cards


Venetian blind cards are a fun and quirky way to send a surprise message or image to someone special. With the slide of a paper "curtain" your big reveal moment can be sent in an envelope! 


Today's card is A2 sized, but you can make whatever suits your purpose. The measurements aren't all that important except to remember that the "blind" needs to be big enough to cover the "window" you cut in the front of your card. 

You'll need a card blank, some patterned paper, an image and sentiment, another piece of card stock that is slightly smaller (or the same size if you prefer) as your folded card blank and a piece of string or ribbon about 12" long.


1. Choose a rectangular or square die that is slightly smaller than the image for your card. Alternatively, cut a rectangular shaped window with a craft knife and ruler.


2. Use the die to cut a window from the single piece of card stock. Keep the window toward the bottom of the card stock so that you can add a little awning or valance at the top of the card. Trim a piece of patterned paper to slightly wider than your window and 47/8" long. 


3. Use the window as a template to mark the correct position on the card blank (your folded card). This will help you position the image so you can see it through the window when the blind is drawn up.


4. Adhere the image and sentiment to the card blank, making sure it fits over the area you marked in step 3. Set aside.


5. Score your blind every 3/8" so that you have 13 sections between each score line. NOTE: It doesn't really matter how many sections you have, but it should be an uneven number. The width of the score lines, in my case 3/8", will determine the folded up width of your blind. Adjust the measurements to suit your own project.


6. Concertina fold the patterned paper, ending on a mountain fold.


7. If you have a cropodile or similar heavy duty hole punch, now's the time to use it! My little punch wasn't up to the job of punching all those holes at once, so I used an eyelet tool and hammer to get it done.


8. Starting at the top of the blind where you have a valley fold, thread the string through all the holes.


9. Your string should form a "U" shape along the bottom of the patterned paper. Thread it back up through the holes on the other side, then tie knots in each end of the string to prevent fraying and to stop it from threading back through the holes.


10. Turn your blind over and apply adhesive along the top section between the two holes (indicated by the professional scribble I added in the photo below). Use good strong glue or double-sided tape as there will be quite a lot of pressure applied to this area when the strings are drawn up. Take care not to apply any adhesive to the strings.


11. Adhere the blind to the top of the window, flush with the edge of your cut.


12. To make the valance, cut another piece of patterned paper approximately 1" tall and a little wider than your blind. Use a decorative punch to add a fancy edge.


13. I used a combination of glue (again with the scribble) and foam tape to apply the valance across the top of the blind . Again, take care not to glue the strings or they won't draw up.


14. Use foam tape or glue to add the blind panel over the front of your card blank. The window should line up over your image and sentiment. Add any extra decorations as desired.