Simple Male Birthday

Yesterday was my husband's 30th birthday.

I wanted to share this birthday card I made for him.

For the base and the top layer, I used White SB Essentials (4925). The thin brown matt is made from Coffee SB Essentials (4920), and the larger brown matt, from Brown Sugar (1055).

I stamped my greeting using the Old Typewriter Letters Stamp Set (172LN), and the Little Birdie (4413KC), and then clear embossed (as it takes some time to stamp out a longer greeting letter by letter, I shook my embossing powder on after stamping each letter, then heat set all together once I had finished stamping).

To colour the top layer, I used the Direct to Paper technique with Broken China, Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. You could use different colours for a different effect (or even a feminine card). This technique would also work well with the new Distress Stains, Kaszazz have coming out soon, or for a slightly more muted look, use a Foam Pad with an Ink Blending Tool!

The embossed image and letters resist the ink, but you still need to wipe the ink off the embossed parts before your card is done.

To help my colours blend a little better, I spritzed it with some water from a Mini Mister, then dried it off with my heat gun (for a feminine card, add some Perfect Pearls to the water to create some shimmer).

On the inside, I created a little envelope, just big enough to hold a gift card.

Colour Charts

Last week one of my customers was trying to figure out which ColorBox Chalk Inks she should buy. She already had some, and loved the way they stamped. The problem was, she didn't know which ones she already had, and which ones she wanted that would compliment her existing collection. I tried in vain looking for a colour chart online similar to the Tim Holtz Distress Ink chart (here). Eventually I decided to create one myself! Now, I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this! In fact, Guest Blogger Distress-D has done something very similar!

So, in the interest of being community-minded, and wanting to save you the hassle of creating a colour chart from scratch yourself, I've included links to the charts I've created! All you need to do is stamp something in the box above the ink name, and you've got yourself a colour chart! Get together with friends with similar inks to complete your chart!

Ink colour charts like these are great for so many things, including matching up with cardstock and project embellishments!

Let's Celebrate!

A young couple we know have recently announced their engagement. To help them celebrate, I made these Congratulations cards.

The Eclectic Alphabet stamp set makes another appearance on this card! I love how big the letters are, but also how adaptable they are, depending on the colour you stamp them in, and the papers and cardstock you team them with! So versatile!

As the letter are so big, I couldn't spell out 'congratulations', but instead went with 'congrats'. Each letter is stamped in black, then fussy cut. For most parts, I used a pair of scissors, but for the trickier parts, I used the retractable knife - what a wonderful tool! The background is simple (Ebony and Ivory paper on a black cardstock matt) because the letters in the foreground are so busy. I wanted the letters to stand out, and not drown in a busy background.

The red and black heart is from some old paper I had in my stash, and went perfectly with the theme of this card. It added some colour, and filled in the space after the 's'.

For this card, I wanted something a little simpler. Flowers are so simple, but yet so complex at the same time! For this card I used Colorbox Chalk Ink for a nice finish. The taller flowers symbolise the newly engaged couple. The card has a calming sort of feel to it, especially at this hectic time for a young couple.

Red, Black and Vanilla Anniversary Card

My original idea for this card was Vanilla and Black, with maybe a splash of red.


To start off with, I stamped the background images in each of the four corners (and once on the bottom left hand corner of the envelope) in black Crafters Ink. I added some sticky backed pearls, and waited for the images to dry while also waiting for inspiration to strike!


I decided I'd like to have a peice of vellum wrapped around the front of the card, with the 'Happy Anniversary' sentiment in the middle. I stamped the 'HAPPY' sentiment in Fired Brick Distress Ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I added the 'Anniversary' using alphabet stickers, but thought it still looked a bit plain, so I wrapped the vellum around a peice of Crimson cardstock, with both edges scalloped. Yup, it was starting to take shape! Some red organdy ribbon one one side almost completed the card.


Then it hit me (not literally)! A couple of cute little love hearts on the other side to even it out, and symbolising the two hearts involved in a wedding anniversary. I had some chipboard hearts in my stash, so I inked them in the Red Brick, and added some Ice Stickles. The Red Brick added the exact colour I needed to co-ordinate with the rest of my card, but adding the Ice Stickles wasn't quite the effect I was looking for, so I poured some sparkly red glitter on top (the Ice Stickles acting like glue to hold the glitter). Perfect! Now, the Ice Stickles step wasn't needed, but I didn't realise that when I was colouring the love hearts. After inking, I could've added Glossy Accents to the chipboard and then poured the glitter on top. For a more 'natural' look, I could've skipped the inking step. Each of these three steps are great for altering chipboard.

Simply Adorable Baby Shower Card

This card was so much fun to make, that I had to share it with you! 

To be honest, it's really quite a basic card. That's one thing that I love about cardmaking - it doesn't have to be fancy to be fancy! What I mean is, you don't have to spend hours and use every technique known to cardmakers to make a nice looking card.

Stamping Basics

Stamps have changed a lot from those old wood mounted stamps in half dried out ink pads that usually come to mind when one mentions stamps. Of course the stamps I'm talking about today are a lot closer to these stamps than the current self-inking type that are used in most offices.

For the purpose of today's post, there are two types of stamps. Mounted and unmounted.

Mounted Stamps

These are stamps that are ready to go. All you need to be able to use them, is an inkpad. The mounts can be made of wood or acrylic, but the stamp itself is connected to the mount - it's an all-in-one deal. Mounted stamps look 'normal' to people who don't stamp.

Unmounted Stamps

There are two types of unmounted stamps. Rubber stamps, and clear stamps. 

Good quality clear stamps are made from photopolymer, although cheaper stamps could be made from an inferior substance which may not hold ink as well as it should.

Unmounted rubber stamps look just like the stamp portion of a wood mounted stamp, just without the wood!

Acrylic Blocks

Unmounted stamps are sometimes called cling stamps, because to be able to use them, you need an acrylic block. Blocks come in many different shapes and sizes, and for good reason!

A small stamp will fit and stamp better when on a small block, and likewise for big stamps with big blocks. A small stamp will work on a big block, but you may get shadowing. But more of that later.

A stamp on a block that isn't big enough will not give you a good impression. Your stamp needs to have even pressure all over in order to stamp correctly.

Inking and Shadowing

Shadowing occurs when your stamp is over inked and rocked.

I've seen it many times before, especially with new stampers. They over ink their stamps, resulting in shadowing. A stamp only needs to be tapped onto an inkpad (or vice versa) for it to be well inked, especially if your inkpad has sufficient ink. Keeping a reinker on hand will mean your inkpads will remain 'juicy'.

Another mistake stampers make is rocking their stamps when they're stamping. This is most common with small, sentiment stamps. It's best to go straight onto your project, apply even pressure, and then bring your stamp straight back up. This way, even if you do have ink on the other portions of your stamp, they shouldn't transfer to your project.

When inking your stamps, the general rule is that if the inkpad is bigger than the stamp, take the stamp to the inkpad, but if the stamp is bigger than the inkpad, take the inkpad to the stamp.

Inking Basics

I love ink.

More often than not, my fingers are inky, and on more than one occassion I've got some on my clothes. But I still love ink!

To really talk about all the attributes of ink would take longer than most people would care to read about in a blog post, so I'll try and keep this as short as I can while still including as much information as I can. I'm not going to talk about all inks, but a few of my favourites and the reasons why I love them!

Colorbox Chalk Ink by Clearsnap

Why I love this ink:

• The colours are vibrant, and there are plenty to choose from.
• It dries instantly, which means you can continue on with your project, without needing to heat set, or wait for it to dry.
• It stamps beautifully - it feels like such a pleasure to use.
• It comes in cat's eyes, mini or full inkpads, as well as queues and paint boxes. You can buy colours together, or seperately and you can buy re-inkers.
• It has a chalky finish, without the chalky residue!

Perfect Medium by Ranger

Why I love this ink:

• Technically, it's not an ink! But it is perfect for using with embossing as it stays wet long enough to work with.
• The pad is 'sticky', which means I can feel where my stamp has been inked, even if I can't necessarily see it!
• Great for use with chalks, and with Perfect Pearls.
• It's easy to use and always provides a great result!

Distress Inks by Tim Holtz and Ranger

 

 

Why I love this ink:

• For starters, it's so versatile!
• Great for stamping with, and for acheiving a distressed look.
• Reinkers are available and come in the cutest little glass dropper bottles!
• Embossable.
• They're water-based, and as such, you can do all sorts of fun things with them when you add water!
• Phenomenal colours available, with the coolest 'distressed' names.
• For perfect matching, there are also embossing powders and crackle paints in the same colours.

Vivid! Ink by Clearsnap

Why I love this ink:

• The colours live up to it's name - vivid!
• There are plenty to choose from.
• Stamps clear every time!

Ancient Page by Clearsnap

Why I love this ink:

• It's permanent.
• It's waterproof, which makes it the perfect ink to use with my watercolour crayons!
• The pad itself has a 'skin' on it, which makes inking stamps feel nice and smooth.
• It's my 'go-to' ink, for stamping sentiments and outline images.

There are many more great and wonderful things that can be said about each of these ink types, but I just wanted to share why I love them. And, these aren't the only ink types available. Each type of ink has a different and specialised use.

What kinds of inks do you like? I'd love to see your comments in the section below, but in the mean time, happy inking!