Day Six

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE INK PADS

I must admit, today's post has me feeling like I'm on an episode of Confessions of a Craft Hoarder. There's nothing quite like seeing all your supplies grouped together for a photograph! Anyhow, onto today's project...

It's time to dig out all your ink pads, test which ones are still viable and either re-ink them, re-home them, beg, borrow or steal some re-inker, or as a last resort, discard them. (Actually, don't steal... that's naughty).

Easter With Kathy

Kathy is sharing some adorable Easter cards with us today using the new Easter Joy set of digital stamps. The first card folds open for display and can be used as part of her Easter decor. Wouldn't it look fabulous on the table for Easter lunch? She has coloured the little chick with lots of wonderful, bright colours reminiscent of spring flowers.

Kathy's second Easter card could also be given for Valentine's Day, a birthday or just to let someone special know that she's thinking of them. How cute are those thought bubbles filled with carrots?! She has finished the inside of the card with a large sentiment and another little carrot.

Kathy has shared colouring guides for both of her fabulous projects...

You can find more of Kathy's work over on her blog:

Kathy's Blog

Day Five

SORT ADHESIVES

We've sorted our pens and pencils, so now it's time to get into all the different glues in your collection. Make sure they haven't dried up and clear the nozzles so the glue flows freely. If necessary, refill smaller bottles from your bulk packs.

Day Four

SORT THE GOOD FROM THE BAD

Let's dig into our pens, pencils and paints to sort out what stays and what must go. Do a scribble test with your ink pens, gel pens, water based markers, alcohol markers... the lot! Make sure your coloured pencils are sharpened and your paints are still viable and not dried out.

Tutorial - Saturating the Ink

One of the very first things I learned about alcohol markers was not to overwork the image, which, of course, meant that it's one of the very first things I did (what's the worst that could happen, right?) It's true that the ink becomes mottled and splotchy with no way to correct it. But...

... it makes fabulous fluffy bunnies!!

For the best results, print or stamp your image with a very light colour. A heavy black outline will camouflage a lot of the effect that we looking to achieve with this technique.

Soak a small area of your image with the 0 blending pen, and while it's wet, add your colour. Don't wait for anything to dry between layers, just keep adding the ink. It won't take long before you start to notice a "halo" form around the area you're colouring. This is the ink starting to bleed outward.

Work in small stages so that the ink doesn't have time to dry. Add lots of ink to each layer, working light colours into dark until the pigment starts to become mottled and you end up with a splotchy look.

Once the ink dries, you'll notice the edges are fuzzy from where the ink has bled outward... and you've now got a lovely fluffy bunny!

Stamps:

Day Three

CLEAN YOUR TOOLS

A lot of gunk builds up on our scissors, blades and work surfaces over time. Just think of all the adhesives, sprays, inks and mediums we used to complete our projects, not to mention good old dust and dirt. A regular clean not only ensures that our projects stay nice and tidy, but also helps with the longevity and function of tools.

Although a weekly wipe over or dust is generally enough to keep things tidy, I suggest at least a six monthly deep clean with an alcohol based cleaner for more stubborn stains and build up. The alcohol will dissolve adhesive and most paints and is pretty good for de-gunking scissors as well. Don't forget your cutting mats and desk surface... but do test solvents and cleaners in an inconspicuous place if you have a surface that may be sensitive to chemicals.

Day Two

INVENTORIES

It's a great idea to keep lists of the items in your craft space, particularly products that we purchase in quantity, such as stamps, dies and punches. I'm certainly guilty of buying doubles after forgetting I already purchased something! A simple list on paper or on your phone is enough, but if you want to be ultra-organised, consider creating books with examples, such as die cuts and stamped images.

It might seem strange to start working on an inventory so early in the clean up process, but I find it a lot easier and more efficient to make notes as I go. As you clean and sort, add each item you're keeping to the appropriate list. By the end of the month you should have completed inventories for most of the items in your craft space.

There's no need to inventory your pens, pencils, paints and mediums as we'll be creating charts for each of these items later in the month. I have included some blank examples below that you are welcome to print and use to help you organise your space.

March Winners

Congratulations to the February Challenge Winners! 

Aimeslee W., Teresa H., and Mandy C.

You are the randomly chosen winners of last month's challenge.

If you already have a Beccy's Place store account, I'll be adding a $20.00AU credit very soon.

If not, please email me at beccy@beccysplace.com to claim your prize.

Day One

TIDY YOUR WORK AREA

Let's start with one of the basics, which is clearing off the area where you work. For some, this will be a desk, for others it might be the kitchen or dining room table. Whatever space you work in, pack things up and put everything back in it's place. Having a nice clean work area will give us some space to do other jobs during the month, such as cleaning tools and organising our stash.

Make sure you take "before" and "after" shots to share on Facebook or your own blog!

New Releases

Our second quarter releases have hit the shelves!

Our latest collection of digital stamps features a wide variety of images for lots of different occasions. We have A Drover's Life for all those folks who love the country and everything that goes along with it. You'll also find a set that, at first glance looks like it's just for Easter, but also has you covered for cute baby cards. Our final set, Live Large, is all about living in the moment and enjoying all that life has to offer!

A Drover's Life

digital stamps

Available in Store Now

Easter Joy

digital stamps

Available in Store Now

Live Large

digital stamps

Available in Store Now

April Challenge

Create a card or paper-craft project using any Beccy's Place image, upload a photo of it to your blog or other hosted site, and submit a direct link below. The challenge runs from now until midnight on the 30th of April 2020 (AEST).

Plus a sheet of digital paper

To keep things interesting, I'll be adding an additional optional element to the monthly challenges. For April, it's a flower or foliage challenge. You can create projects featuring images of flowers, forest quotes or perhaps patterned paper filled with pretty gardens. As always, keep in mind that the additional challenge is just an optional extra.

PLEASE READ THE CONDITIONS CAREFULLY

BEFORE ENTERING THE CHALLENGE

• Entries that don't meet the conditions will be deleted from the challenge.
• Your project must be created during the month of April 2020 and entered into the challenge during the active challenge period. Due to an automated system, late entries cannot be accepted.
• Each month I will include a re-mastered digital image from my library of freebies as well as a bonus challenge, such as a card sketch, bingo grid, etc. You DO NOT have to use the image or bonus challenge on your project, but you MUST use a Beccy's Place image, either free or purchased, to be eligible for entry.
• You can enter as many times as you like and you can submit your card to any other challenge you wish.
• At the end of the month three winners will be chosen to receive a $20.00AU store credit for any digital stamps at Beccy's Place. To redeem the store credit, winners must have a Beccy's Place customer account. (Please note, you do not need an account to enter the challenge. It is acceptable to create an account in the event that you win. Accounts can be closed at any time.) 
• Store credit won during any Beccy's Place challenge is only redeemable for digital stamps. 
• Entries can be uploaded to the challenge from any hosted site including blogs, online galleries, Google photos, etc. If you do not have access to a hosted site, please feel free to email your photos to me and I will add them from the Beccy's Place Guest blog.
• Beccy's Place designers may enter the monthly challenge but are not eligible to win prizes.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER