NON-SOPPY VALENTINE!!

This is the valentine card I have made for my lovely hubbie, he hates soppy, cutesy images so it's quite hard sometimes to come up with something romantic, I thought this had quite an industrial look. It's made completely out of recycled packaging and card. The paper sticking out near the bottom is a recycled illustration from a damaged children's book. I used the image to inspire the doodles on the card. The key is from and old chest of drawers... I think!?! (we keep a pot with old keys, not sure why, they never fit anything!! but at least they're useful as embellishments). The wire is left over from a picture hanging kit. The message was printed on the computer.

I also used the dauber and inking technique described in the last posting. I will be entering the card in Claire's weekly Challenge at Do Crafts as it is based on her challenge sketch.

DAUBERS AND INKING (No inkpad or special foam needed!)

I thought I would post some pictures of the daubers I use when I want to ink around the edges of cards, pictures and mats etc.(if you're new to card making a mat generally means a background card or paper that the focal point is mounted on). Daubers are also great for applying paint, particularly when stencilling.

To make a dauber you will need some fabric, I prefer cotton T shirt fabric as it is stretchy and can be pulled taught. Cut a square of fabric, then a second square which is folded into a tight ball. Place this in the centre of the first square, draw up all the corners and edges and fasten above the ball with an elastic band.

When inking and stencilling I normally work on a non-porous surface like a ceramic tile, plastic lid, acetate or a non-stick baking sheet/liner (my baking sheet came from a pound shop!). Instead of ink I use watebased felt pens. Scribble some of the ink onto the non-porous surface, wipe the dauber in the ink and apply to paper. (Try mixing and blending several colours)

Work in sweeping circular motions, starting off the paper gradually working on to it. (practice on some scrap paper first)

TIP- if you have any left over ink try spritzing the inky surface with water or wipe over with a wet wipe, then blot with a plain piece of paper. if you want the paper completley covered swipe over the paper with the inky baby wipe. This can be used as a matching backing papepr or saved for a future project.

Happy New Year

Ok a bit belated but heartfelt, I do hope this year is a special one for you. Last year ended on a real high for me as I was lucky enough to be chosen as Card Designer of the Year by Simply Cards and Papercrafts. I was totally astounded to get the news as I regularly follow other blogs and know how talented other Cardmakers are. I sometimes can't believe how beautiful some of the cards are and how some designers have turned cardmaking into a true art form. I know I don't quite measure up to some of these designers but possibly this year I was chosen not because I am better (I truly know I'm not) but simply a bit different!! Anyway I got a lot of lovely goodies as part of my prize and so in the near future I hope to offer some as blog candy.....when I have figured out the way to do it. I am still not particularly skillful at this blogging stuff.
Best Wishes to you all

Paper dyeing

I thought I would post some pictures of some cards I made a couple of years ago, but as they primarily use papers for the technique, I thought they would be useful. Some of the cards do have a little stamping on them but the cards could easily be recreated without.
Essentially the technique involves non-colourfast papers. By applying water to the paper the dye can be transferred to another card. Tissue paper and crepe paper are best for this technique but it could be tried with other papers
Creating backgrounds is the easiest method to try first. Wet a fairly sturdy piece of cardstock with a paint brush and water, then lay strips of tissue to create scenery or try using scrunched up scraps and overlaying and dabbing to create different effects. It's worth practicing on a scrap of card first to judge how much water is needed and how intense the colour is. Both techniques require enough moisture to make the dye bleed out, but don't forget, when paper or card is damp it warps, so its worth allowing a bit of time for the dyed base card to be allowed to dry, then flattened under some heavy books before you continue to work on it

Shapes can be slightly fiddly and complicated to do, I normally lightly moisten the shape in the centre, position it on the base, then carefully with a wet brush(don't over wet the brush, the colour may bleed out from the edges, and although this can look effective it may not be the look you are after) paint over the shape working carefully to the edges. Either leave the shapes in place to dry or when the desired effect/colour is achieved peel the shapes off. Shapes can also be dyed separately then cut out to create embellishments
Mask off areas or work over a stencil to create dyed areas

And this is how i discovered paper dyeing......

I hadn't got any suitable backing paper for this picture so after several disappointing stamping and painting efforts I decided to stick on tissue paper circles...trouble was, it wasn't colour fast and the glue made the dye bleed...but I liked the natural light and shade the circles were creating so I started again but this time just sticking them down with water. Once they were dry I lifted them off...hey presto... spotty paper!!

This precious scrapbook page is of my husband (much younger!!!)and my daughter Gina, on the very first Red Nose Day. Gina was so excited , but the trouble was her own nose was a bit too small to keep the plastic one on, so she spent the whole time with it balanced on top of her nose and her head tipped back. She loved red nose day and collected a nose every year until the year she died....she thought they would become collectors items and said when she was old she would auction them off for charity...perhaps one day I will be able to grant her wish...I know they are still amongst her treasures.

So don't forget when unwrapping your pressies on Christmas Day, grab any coloured tissue, doesn't matter if it's crumpled..... and fingers crossed it's not colour-fast!!

Music card

As I forgot to mention music sheets in my listings of useful paper I thought I would use it for Creative Crafts next challenge http://creativecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/2009/11/creative-craft-challenges-3.html.

It is also useful as yet again I am late sending a card to one of my nephews and as he is from a musical family this seemed appropriate, (although I'm not sure if he will know what the round black thing is!!!!!). The backing paper is salvaged from a promotional folder all the other bits are scraps and the music is from a damgaged music book, of which I have many in my piano stool......have got the stool, just haven't got the piano anymore......I was rubbish anyway!! The record is one of my husbands 45" singles which is collecting dust behind the sofa......and if you're reading this Steve..... of course I was careful! I scanned the record and reduced it in a word document. Again the sentiment is handwritten and the top notes have dots of black nail varnish on them.

Packaging Card.

I know this card looks like I am cheating using "proper craft stuff" but the stamp was a free gift on Quick Cards Magazine and you do not need an ink pad as it stamps beautifully using an waterbased black pen (felt-tip).

Just lightly brush the side of the pen over the image till all the raised area is covered, lightly huff the stamp (your breath will remoisten any dried bits) then press onto card. the only trouble with this is you will not be able to use watercolour techniques with the image as the lines will run and blur (forgot this and ended with a very grubby faced little girl with the first one I stamped!!!). Use a permanent dyed based ink pad if you have one if you wish to watercolour. I actually found it looked quite good just coloured with felt-tips, I would normally prefer the shading you achieve with watercolouring but as it is a small image the strong colours created quite and impact.

ANYWAY... I actually wanted to focus on the background as the background of the card is actually the packaging and a good example of being able to disguise any unwanted bits. I cut the top writing completely off and the writing in the bottom right corner is covered by the greeting (cut from an old Christmas card). The white card torn and decoupaged on the image is torn from the back of another card..as an extra highlight I used the correction pen again. The card is finished with a scrap of wool and a piece of the ribbon from last years Christmas cake.

Paper

As I have created Robbie using more than pens (for once) I thought it was time to explore paper for a bit. Paper is one of my addictions and I have stacks of beautiful backing paper and card that I regularly stroke!?! but all around the home is a variety of paper which is great to use on cards.

I recently went to a D.I.Y. store and was collecting some gorgeous wallpaper samples to create a "feature" wall in my lounge....naturally these sample won't go to waste! And I had great excitement the other day when some halogen bulbs that I had ordered from the Internet arrived wrapped in Chinese newspaper....can't wait to see what I can do with that. I do have a box that I keep all my recycled cardmaking stuff in and it's full of paper and card that I have kept from packaging, magazines (Grazia is printed on lovely paper which has got a lovely soft look to it!), exercise books, folders, graph paper (there are free downloads of stationary style paper on the internet), wrapping paper, brown paper, even envelopes (some have some great patterns inside them).

I must be the only person who likes to receive junk mail, some glossy brochures are great for collage and always keep the return envelopes ....these can be turned into a card blank (will post an example later), plus the inside of many envelopes have some very interesting patterns, great for men's cards. Tissue paper, kitchen roll, serviettes even toilet paper are all also useful when making cards. And don't forget recycling commercial cards. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember not to use someone else's artwork or design for commercial use. I hope any artist or manufacturer is happy with people using their cards in another form before it ends up in the bin, especially as it is not for profit.

I find it useful to cut the greetings off cards and these become instant message plaques for your own designs. If the image on the front is not to your taste don't forget the reverse is most probably plain white and very useful for other projects, the back piece can also be used, even if it has printing in the centre, this can be covered with an image or embellishment. If you haven't got a base card, try covering the entire card in paper, matting the design on the front then perhaps using matching paper to cover any writing inside. (Envelopes can be made out of wrapping paper as I did with Robbie.