Kathy, Carla and Deanne have used this month's old favourite, Azaleas, to create some beautiful new cards to inspire you.
Azaleas
digital stamps
Kathy was inspired by this tutorial to create two cards from one image.
Tuesday, March 30
Monday, March 29
Pencils on Kraft
I had to sneak in a couple more of these panel cards before the end of the month. They are so easy to colour and create great cards that are perfect for just about anyone!
Stamps:
Saturday, March 27
A Rainbow of Colour
Instead of traditional yellow and brown sunflowers, I decided to experiment with all the colours of the rainbow! The centres of the flowers are stippled with cool grey markers, all the way from black to a light shade of grey.
Stamps:
Thursday, March 25
Tuesday, March 23
Kathy's Easter Creations
Kathy has a wonderful sense of humour that often shines through in her paper crafting, such as this first card she created. She said she was inspired by the quizzical look on the Easter Bunny's face and just had to create a little "story" to go along with it.
Kathy's second card features beautifully toned papers and colours to match the pussy willow sprig she created by adding brown flocking to the image. She finished the inside of the card with a sentiment, some matching paper and a pretty little embellishment.
Sunday, March 21
Pink Hearts and Pretty Ribbon
Now how's this for texture?! Deanne has created this gorgeous Valentine's Day card filled with pretty pink hearts, satin ribbon and beautiful striped paper. She managed to get lots of texture in her creation by tearing the paper rather than cutting, as well as adding microbeads to some parts of the image. Fabulous!
Friday, March 19
Watercolour Background
Today I want to share an easy tutorial for creating simple backgrounds with water-based inks and a brush. These backgrounds are a great foundation for outdoor scenes and work well behind fussy cut characters and animals.
Firstly, make sure you're using water-based inks. Check the packaging or product label or do a test on a scrap piece of paper. If the colour moves or runs when you add water, then it is water based. Solvents, oils and alcohols are unsuitable for this technique as they don't react with water.
Prepare a background panel by cutting out your card stock or paper in whatever shape you desire. I've used a stitched oval die to cut my panel.
Lay down some of the water-based ink on a non-porous surface. I generally use an acrylic block but you could use a non-stick mat, glass board or even a piece of plastic packaging.
Dilute the green ink with water to create a puddle of colour. The more water you add, the lighter the green will be. You can increase the intensity by adding further layers of colour, allowing each layer to dry between applications.
Brush the green ink onto your card stock leaving the edges uneven, which will help to give the impression of a grassy meadow. If you wish, you can create a hill or slope by changing the shape of the green area.
Repeat the process with blue ink to create a "sky". Leaving some streaks will give the impression of clouds.
Once your panel is completely dry, pick up some more green ink on your brush. You don't need to dilute the colour as much this time so don't add too much water. Use the tip of the brush to add little clumps of grass, which are formed by grouping short lines of varying sizes. Place them randomly around the panel.
If you wish, you could add little spots of yellow or pink above some of the grass clumps to give the impression of little flowers.
Stamps:
Wednesday, March 17
A Field of Flowers
Carla has coloured the sunflowers from the new Celebration Panels digital stamp set to create a fabulous "Get Well Soon" card. Adding the sentiment on a piece of vellum means that none of the image is lost, and the lettering provides a handy place to hide adhesive so it can't be seen through the sheer paper.
Monday, March 15
Everything Papercraft - Heritage Cards
Heritage-style cards and paper crafts generally
have an antique or vintage look to them, which can be achieved through the
application of various techniques such as inking, sanding, tea dyeing or
distressing. The addition of suitable ephemera completes the project and helps
to reinforce the illusion of age. Items
like cotton lace, ribbons, paper blossoms, old photographs, pearls and hat pins
are very popular with this style of crafting.
Saturday, March 13
Celebrate With Kathy
Kathy's projects are all about lots of fabulous colour, which is perfect when it comes to celebrating life's special occasions. She has created a fantastic birthday card that is playfully decorated inside and out with lots of confetti pieces. Her second project is a gorgeous gift tag coloured in rich, autumn tones, which would also work perfectly as a book mark.
Tuesday, March 9
Hot Tip Tuesday
Better Stamping I
Solid Surface
For the best results from your stamps, ensure that you are working on a solid surface. Many crafters use plastic, fold-out tables, which are great for extra space, but simply have too much flex to be useful for stamping. The flex allows movement in the surface we're stamping on, letting it bend away from the surface of the stamp. Opt for a sturdy wooden table, desk, or even the kitchen bench. If you have no other option, place a wood or glass cutting board under your work area to provide more support.
The left hand image was stamped on a solid desk top and
the right hand image was stamped on a plastic table top.
Sunday, March 7
Springtime
Carla has paper pieced this wonderful card featuring lots of beautiful springtime colours and embellishments. From the fabulous plaid background to the striped eggs hidden in the grass, everything about her creation sings of springtime celebrations!
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