Tip,Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Penguin Place

 Do you have a particular Christmas style that you come back to year after year? Or do you bring something different every year? Well to start this Christmas crafting season I've taken inspiration from a little product from the August to December called Kraft paper . Paired with the the Penguin Place  I decided to create Christmas cards using an old trick using White ink and a Blender pen.

I used black ink to stamp onto a piece of the kraft paper cut to fit onto  a standard A6 card base. I used the sliding penguin, the tree and the swosh stamp to create a scene.

I then took my white ink and stamped the snowflake stamp, some stars atop the trees and some snowballs

Next I put some white ink onto an acrylic block and using my blender pen coloured in my penguin.  I also added some white under the swosh and around the snowballs and trees. A sentiment and card number 1 was completed and adhered to a white card base.

For card number 2 I used the same tequnique and created a card with the seated penguin.  

This time I stamped and coloured my penguin. Then I  created a mask for the penguin by stampin the same stamp onto the sticky edge of a sticky note, and cuttingbit out. I then placed the mask ove the stamped image and took the snowflake stamp and white ink and stamped a flurry over the front of the card.

Once I was happy with my flurry I removed the mask from the penguin.  I then stamped the antlers onto him.

The same message as for card 1 but this time with a small white mat behind it and I was ready to adhere it to a white card base.

I love this tequnique of colouring with white ink on a coloured background. I think it makes for a very different Christmas card. What do you think? 

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Quiet Meadow

 Today I'm sharing a fun technique using alcohol markers which I've combined with the fantastic dies that coordinate with the beautiful Quiet Meadow called Meadow dies.

I call the technique alcohol marker smooshing The technique is a way to create a beautiful mess.... uhm background 😉.

You will need alcohol markers, white cardstock,  a paint brush and 90% ( or higher) isopropyl alcohol ( also known as rubbing alcohol)  and a cellophane bag .

You start by scribbling your markers onto the cello bag. My tips are to use only 2 or 3 colours and  to colour quite close together but not touching.

Next the fun begins! ( please make sure you're working in a well ventilated space) pour a little of the alcohol into a dish and moisten your paint brush. Then starting with the lightest colour dab into the center of the splodges and watch the magic happen! The short clip below was filmed as the Olympics were on so sorry for the excited background noise 😅 

So once you have added the alcohol place your white cardstock onto the cello bag and watch the card soak it up.

The nice thing about this is that you can add extra colour to your cello bag and more alcohol until you're happy with your background.  I'd  also consider making a few background pieces at that same time.

Now I had the backgrounds I was ready to use the gorgeous backgrounds to make some simple cards. 

The first card uses just some of the gorgeous die cuts from the Meadow dies.

Next I used an other background and one of the stamps from the Quiet Meadow along with some gold embossing powder to create a differnt look.

Here's a close up of the effect the heat embossed flowers create.

For my final background I decided to die cut some of the floral stems and butterflies from the Meadow dies out of it . I then arranged them onto a piece of white cardstock and adhered them down.

Here's a close up of the delicate look the die cuts achieve.

I really enjoyed smooshing with my alcohol markers. And I'm  really chuffed with the way my cards came together.  I hope you like them too 😊

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Peekaboo Farm

 My top tip for today's Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday is don't craft in the middle of the day in the middle of a heat wave!! I  had decided to create a blended background forgetting how quickly ink can dry!!! 🤣 but still it was worth it as I got to use the super cute Peekaboo Farm some more 😉

I used 3 colours and sticky notes and blending brushes to create the background.  First I masked off 2/3rds of the white cardstock mat. Then blended the first colour all over. I then masked of the area I'd added colour too and the middle third. Leaving the other end free to colour. Once that was done I masked off the two ends and coloured the center.

Next I stamped all the farm gang, Percy the pig, Lily the lama,  Dobbin the horse, Robert the ram,and Daisy the cow. And coloured them. Then it was time to fussy cut!! 

Once they were all ready I used thin strips of white card to act as walls to stand the animals behind. I used 3d foam to adhere the strips and animals to the card front. 

I stamped my sentiment into the middle of the middle row. And I was done! 

Isn't it the most adorable celebrity squares every??? Now if you don't remember that tv show I'm really showing my age 🤣 ( it was a quiz show that ran on tv for about 20 years at the end of the last millennium here in the UK 🤣)

Any way I think the heat may be getting to me so I'll  sign off for now and go and put my feet in my grandson's paddling pool to cool off!! 

Tips tricks and techniques Tuesday Party Puffins

 Today I'm  sharing a super simple technique for a fun card that has a hidden surprise! Of course the card features the Party Puffins but I have also used one of the pattern papers from a fantastic pack that is exclusively available with a qualifying order from Stampin' Up!. Called Pattern Party it is one that will certainly be popping up in future projects!!

The card starts with a simple piece of patterned paper and a simple image from the Party Puffins stamps. Aren't  the colours in the paper cheerful 😀?

Now the fun really begins when the card is opened....

The puffins are fussy cut out and set upon my super simple pop up mechanism.  The mechanism is so easy to create. It is a simple strip of card scored into 4 . The size of the strip dictates the stand stands out into the card it's self .

For today's card I have made 2 pop up stands.  One is a strip of card 10cm x 2.5cm scored at 2.5cm, 5cm and 7.5cm to create a stand for the larger puffin. The smaller puffin is on a stand made from a strip measuring 8cm x 2cm scored at 2cm, 4cm and 6cm.

You can create you strip any length and width but once scored should like this....

Now to affix it into your card all you have to do is reinforce the folds by folding them. Next fold the piece in half and offer it up to the fold of your card base. Make sure that the open ends are to the fold . In the picture below I have marked where to apply adhesive.

Once you've applied the ashesive to the tab carefully close the cards sandwiching it into the card then do the same on the other side see below.

 

Once opened you have your pop up stand!!

How easy is that??? 😀 it opens the door to lots of fun wow cards!! 

All in all I had great fun making this project and hope you like it as much as I do 😁

Tips tricks and techniques Tuesday Today's Tiles

 These new In-Colors work together sooooo well 😍 and that is a great tip for when you're looking for colour combo's..... Stampin' Up! Brings out a new range of 5 trend setting colours every year and they all work well together making those hard to decide colour combinations so much easier!!!  And the Today's Tiles with it's  multiple image focal stamp is just crying out to be stamped then cut out!! 

My tip for cutting the squares out is to mount them on the same colour cardstock as you have stamped them on if you're cutting out isn't perfect . A far more forgiving way to work especially for beginners.

To give the card another point of interest I used 3d foam to raise alternate squares on the out side edges.

 I then die cut the center focal point and used 3D foam to raise  that too. I used all the In-Colors to create a blended background to go behind the white die cut piece.

A few sparkles and a sentiment and my card was complete.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a change of receiving the Today's Tiles stamp set in our giveaway!!!

What's your favourite In-Color?