Using my Letterpress and Magazine Makes #9 - VIDEO

I'm doing my best to keep up with my plan for two videos a month, one haul and one other. It's taken me a while to get round to this one as despite the antibiotics, which cleared up the main infection, my tonsillitis lingered in the form of earache and a bad cold, and then everyone go upset tummies - it's been a wild 6 weeks!

But, it's here before the end of the month and I hope you find it interesting. I'm using my Letterpress which comes out maybe once a year for a play. It still works, despite the large crack in the top plate....In my December haul video, I showed the new supplies I'd managed to get at a reasonable price from the USA, so I got it out to have a good play.

These are the panels I made.

And the video process is here or on my YT channel:

I particularly love the floral background panel. I've used it with the Altenew layering dies which came free with Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 174. Last time I used this panel, it was with the Altenew layering stamp with also came free with Simply Cards and Papercraft. You can read about it in the blog post Magazine Makes #2 - Altenew Roses.

I really like these inks, but they aren't as vibrant as the sticky tube ink that comes with the kit, which is a shame, but they are so much easier to clean and don't take a long time to dry, which can happen if you use too much of the other. 

Been good to get a whole lot more cards added to my stash! Thank you for stopping by - it is always appreciated. Happy Crafting Everyone! :)

Reclaiming the mojo

So I feel like I'm back on track with my crafting. No card to show, but I've been playing around with things and as Tim Holtz advocates in his interview in this month's Simply Cards and Papercraft #137, it's important to create as well as make.

I met up with my friend Pat on Wednesday night. I met her in Hobbycraft back in November and we struck up a conversation about which die cutting machine to buy. She very kindly gave me her email address and agreed to meet up for a craft. We've had two so far, and I hope we have many more. It reminded me that for all the great blogs I follow and the wonderful and friendly crafters on Instagram, it's nice to meet up with someone and craft together. Admittedly we do a lot of talking, but we also do manage some crafting! Pat has years of experience over me but last night we learnt about letterpress together - from SCP #137 using embossing folders and what I'd seen of Jennifer McGuire's faux letterpress technique using dies.

A little sample, but I think I preferred the embossing folder technique. We also tried with different inks - distress inks were interesting and could be used for water colouring or spritzing. 

I talked about my new found love of Spectrum Aqua markers and we talked emboss resist techniques, so I tried that on Thursday morning as baby took an unexpectedly long nap (she was up at 3:30am and took ages to go back to sleep, so no wonder!). I loved it. I've seen some gorgeous cards using this for water colouring flowers, so some purchases may be necessary next month. This is to make a secret card for a friend, so just a little peek... I also used some masking techniques on it - there's a new class on at Online Card Classes about this technique (Mask-erade) - I keep seeing these classes advertised and am so tempted!

And I finally sorted my swatches into their new home, the Simple Stories 6x8 Binder with 2x2 insta pockets - it looks a bit naked, but give it some time.... It's perfect storage for them.

I've definitely learnt something this week too about me and my crafting. When I feel pressured to make rather than create, I need to step back, just play and have some fun - and organise too.

Thanks for making it this far and have a great weekend!