Hat Full of Shamrocks

Jackie has incorporated lots of additional colour into her design by using multiple mats behind the image panel. The important thing to remember when using multiple colours on a project is to keep the tones the same... you won't get a lovely cohesive look by mixing pastels with neons.

Stamps:

Selected, retired digital stamps at an incredibly low price for just 48 hours.

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Golf Set

An Irish Blessing

I love this blessing and wanted it to be the focal point of my card, with a few little shamrocks scattered around as decoration. I had plenty of green paper off cuts in my scrap drawer so decided on a patchwork style background using 1" squares mounted on black cardstock. 

Since I printed the shamrocks quite small, I kept the colouring simple using just two markers. As you can see from the photo below, I separated the shamrocks by shortening the stems and cutting them apart with a pair of small, sharp scissors.

Stamps:

A Kiss For Luck

This month's featured set is overflowing with shamrocks, shenanigans and the very best of luck.

Join us over the next few days as we share some ideas with one of our old favourites, Irish Blessings. 

To kick start our week of shenanigans, Anesha has created this fantastic card featuring the double horseshoe image and one of the coordinating sentiments.

Stamps:

Light Through Water

Today I want to show you a technique that resembles the effect of light shining through water. This technique would also work for sunlight shining through clouds, or perhaps starlight or moonlight shining down on an object. I've used the technique to create a shaker card, which I intended to resemble a goldfish pond filled with light and sparkling bubbles.

Stamp the images on a piece of smooth cardstock and colour with pencils. You'll need to colour the whole image, including the background. Try to lay down lots of colour so that you'll have plenty of pigment to create the contrast between light and dark.

This bit is a little daunting, I must admit, but the results are definitely worth it. Take a nice soft, clean eraser and drag one of the long edges in a straight line, from the top of the coloured image to the bottom. As the eraser moves along, it takes away a layer of colour. As you can see below, it starts off as quite a crisp line, then starts to blend and blur as the eraser makes it's way through the pencil. This gives the impression of light dispersing as it gets deeper into the water.

It's important to CLEAN THE ERASER with each pass you make. You don't want to start out with a dirty eraser or you won't get that nice crisp start to your light beam. Make each beam of light wider at the bottom than the top, again, to give the impression that the light is dispersing as it makes it's way through the water.

I added a third fish over the top of the background to give the finished card some depth. It was secured in place with foam tape, which brings it flush against the acetate sheet making it appear to be in the foreground of the scene.

Stamps and Dies:

  

Much Happiness

The shape of one of the goldfish in the Fantail Goldfish set made me think of the Yin and Yang symbol from ancient Chinese philosophy. I stamped the same image twice, then coloured them both orange, one in darker shades than the other. To get exactly the right placement, I actually fussy cut around the images and adhered them to a pretty piece of green paper.

Stamps and Dies:

  

Deanne's Studio

Orange markers, glitter and pretty background paper are the ingredients for these fabulous cards from Deanne. Adding glitter over the top of the coloured image gives the fish a wonderful sparkle. And speaking of sparkle, those soulful eyes have received a layer of glossy accents to give them a genuine, glassy look.

Don't forget to visit Deanne's blog for more of her fabulous work. You can find a link to her blog below, or in the side bar, along with links for all the other Beccy's Place designers.

Deanne's Blog

Eucalyptus Leaves

It's an Aussie-fest here today, with two iconic images on one project!

I've used the single koala image from the new pop-up set, Warm Fuzzies, combined with the solid leaf stamp from the Eucalyptus clear stamp set. The eucalyptus leaves have been stamped with distress markers to form the background of my card.

The little koala was printed directly onto a piece of X-PressIt blending card, which is ideal for colouring with alcohol markers as it allows the colours to mix and blend nicely, and then fussy cut with a small pair of scissors. I always add a little more oomph to the eyes by colouring the pupils with a black pen and adding a white highlight.

To help with positioning everything evenly, I'm going to place the koala on a piece of card stock, which will be adhered to my card front, and trace a light pencil line around the outside. This will give me a guide for placing the eucalyptus leaves.

Solid stamps are great for adding multiple colours with just one impression. I'm going to colour the image with distress ink markers, adding greens, yellows and browns to the leaves and reds and pinks to the flowers. It will take several impressions to fill up the entire space, and to prevent it looking too repetitive, I'm going to move the stamp around as I make the impressions, sometimes masking out sections.

To get a beautiful watercolour look, I'm using my water brush directly over the stamped ink. The impression on the right hand side hasn't yet had any water added to it, while the other parts have. You can see the difference before and after the addition of the water.

My completed background is now ready for the little koala, which I'll attach with some foam tape to give a little more dimension to the project.

Stamps:

Everything Papercraft - Stitching

Exactly as the name implies, stitching is done on many paper craft projects with a needle and thread, much the same as you would on fabric. Some clever crafters even add embroidery, but you have to be mindful about making too many holes in the paper which will result in perforation.

Faux stitching is artificial stitching, often done with pen work, a piercing tool or cutting dies that include a “stitched” edge. It gives the effect of stitching without the thread or the time and effort that real stitching takes.

It’s possible to buy patterns that allow you to add intricate stitched designs to your projects. The patterns indicate the needle holes, which are generally pierced before the thread is added, and give the crafter instructions on the order of stitching.

Stitching is generally added for aesthetic purposes, but it also acts to secure embellishments or layers of paper together. Often it’s used in conjunction with adhesives to ensure a permanent addition.