Hello again! I've been busy making cards not just for the various birthdays this month, but also for the commission of 10 cards that my mother in law asked me for. I've been enjoying the challenge - and the opportunity to buy new stamps and other goodies for it! One of these cards is for my sister, the other for hers (I'll let her choose which she prefers!) and thanks to The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge, I've been trying out new techniques. This one is water colouring with an embossed image using a gorgeous flower stamp set from Clearly Besotted - Just Darling.
[Supplies: Spectrum Aqua Markers - Floral; Versa Mark Ink; WOW! Bright White Embossing Powder; Ranger Dye Ink Grape Soda; Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black; Wink of Stella 8mm Tip Pen; Bazzill Basics Paper; Clearly Besotted Just Darling]
I absolutely loved doing these cards. It made me feel like I was a real artist - even though I am most definitely not! I also definitely need more flower stamps in my life...
I stamped the images onto water colour paper with Versa Mark ink and heat embossed with WOW! Bright white embossing powder. I then simply used my Spectrum Aqua markers directly onto the paper and blended with water. The embossed image saves colour running too much onto the blank space.
This is mounted using fun foam and lots of tape onto a card blank with has two 2cm strips of Bazzill basics paper at either side - it's a cheat and saves me paper! The sentiment is from the set stamped in Ranger Dye Grape Soda. I wrote over the sentiment in Wink of Stella and also added a little to the flowers - a card is not a card without Wink of Stella!
This card is simply mounted onto a Kraft card blank with fun foam and the sentiment stamped in Ranger Archival Jet Black. I held back on the Wink of Stella!
Thank you so much for reading, hope you have a great weekend - can you believe we're nearly in July??
Hello there. I posted a picture of two new Ranger Dye Ink pads on Instagram and was asked for my thoughts about them, so I thought I'd do a little blog post.
One thing I have found difficult as a new stamper/card maker is deciding on which inks to buy. There are several different brands and types that look good from blog posts, but I haven't been able to decide, partly due to cost.
I have been using two black dye inks (Memento Tuxedo Black and Ranger Archival Jet Black), and several VersaMagic Dew Drop chalk inks for a while. The latter I really like, but I wanted to try more colours with dye inks, and I went with Memento dew drops as they are a manageable price for me at the moment. I wasn't terribly keen on the results and felt it may be down to my lack of experience as a stamper.
I had seen Jennifer McGuire's video on inks for beginner stampers, and I liked the look of the Ranger Dye inks. On an unexpected trip to my local craft shop on Sunday afternoon I noticed they had them in and so I bought two as a trial.
I haven't used them on a card yet, but I did do a bit of comparison stamping with my Mementos and you can really tell the difference. The stamps are Clearly Besotted Mrs & Mrs and Bookworm sets. My apologies for the picture quality, I still need to get a decent camera sorted.
The images stamped with the Ranger Dye are clear and crisp, with minimal blotchiness and missing spots, compared to the Mementos. The colours too are sharp, bright and vibrant, which is what I like about them. They also feel much smoother on the card and they definitely make it very easy to get very good quality results as a beginner. The other interesting thing is they smell much nicer than the Mementos. I have no idea why, but for me that makes a difference too!
I shall keep the Mementos and see if I continue to use them as I like to have a variety of colours, but the Ranger Dye Inks have really impressed a novice and I shall be investing over the next few months in more colours from the range.
Thanks for reading! Please do leave me a comment if you have any other ink suggestions :)
This time my older sister, which is really lovely, although I rather hope she's not reading this because I haven't sent it yet! If she is - it'll be with you next week :)
As usual it's a white card blank. I'm favouring tent fold at the moment. I cut a piece of my new Papermania 6x6 smooth coloured card slightly smaller than the card base. I chose purple because of the fuschias. The stamps are from the free Clearly Besotted set from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 133, and the inspiration for the card came from there as well as from Vixx Handmade Cards.
The leaves are stamped in Versa Magic DewDrop Hint of Pesto and then fussy cut. The buds and flowers stamped in Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink onto water colour paper. I then took the opportunity to use my new Caran D'Ache Prismallo Aquarelles that I bought on holiday. I like them, and I'll practice a bit more with them. After the vibrancy of the Inktense pencils, these were different to work with. I fussy cut the fuschias out too and attached them all with foam pads to the card front.
The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Mr & Mrs set. I rounded the corners of the card top with the reverse punch on my WRMK Envelope Punch Board and attached it with foam tape.
Thanks for reading and I'm hoping my sister likes it!
Hello again. Here is card number three from my crafting mania of Thursday morning. I really enjoyed making this one. It's just stamping with a bit of colouring. I'm definitely realising that I prefer Clean And Simple (CAS) cards.
Monkey here is from a Mama Elephant stamp set called Up and Away that I purchased from Make the Day Special. Golly, they have some lovely things. I was good and only bought this set, but I was sorely tempted to buy so much more!
I started by using my three Derwent Inktense Pencils (Hot Red, Sun Yellow and Lagoon) to create a nice rainbow of colours. Once dry, I stamped the balloon onto it using Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink and cut out the balloons and not the string with my Tonic fine control scissors. I then stamped the balloons onto the card with the archival ink and the monkey (and its tail which is separate!), holding onto the strings, in Memento Tuxedo Black. I stamped one of the sentiments from the set and then using foam pads added the coloured balloons. It looked a bit plain despite the balloons, so I coloured in the monkey using some of my new Derwent Artists pencils (they were cheaper in the shop!). I know a lot of you use pens (Spectrum, Copic, Promarkers), but I have a fondness for pencils at the moment.
I really like it and I think I'll use this set again and again.
Thank you for reading!
