One year celebration! Monday: Top ten basic craft supplies

Hello!

Believe it or not this week marks the one year anniversary of my blog.  While it hasn't become the most popular blog on the web, I'm still happy with the progress I have made over the last year.  So to celebrate the occasion I'm doing a post every day this week focusing on various aspects of card making.

Today's post is all about the top ten basic craft supplies that I think every card maker should own.

top ten craft supplies

1) A craft knife, cutting mat, steel rule, and pencil combo.

While paper trimmers are super cool and handy, you can't beat a good knife and rule for cutting paper.  A cutting mat on top of your work surface is a wonderful idea even if you have no intention of cutting everything as it provides grid lines (to help get things nice and straight), a slightly softer surface (which is good for stamping), and can be easily cleaned.  I've said a steel rule because (trust me I know this from experience) plastic rules won't last long.  They are also great because the little marks wont rub off leaving you to guess where 2.8cm actually is......

2) A selection of ink pads.

I'm not talking about the expensive ink pads here, I'm talking about the cheaper ones that I tend to find in department stores that come in a variety of colours.  Most of my ink pads are of these cheaper ones, mostly because I don't want to spend heaps of money on ink, but also because they do work reasonably well (I have had a few fails with them, but with the amount of success I've had, I can't complain).  I'm not saying never buy the expensive ink pads, I've got a couple myself, buy them in colours you will use all the time, because then you will get the best value for money and you will have the colours you aren't so fond of *cough* orange *cough* from the cheaper inks when you need them.

If you are wondering what the numbers are on top of the ink pads it is just a code number as I have stamped all my inks onto a couple of pieces of paper that hang on the wall for reference when I'm crafting.

3) Good white card.

I tend to buy my white card in the packets of 12 from stationery shops.  I like the 240gsm white linen card as it is heavy and has a nice texture to it.  When it comes to other colours, I'm more likely to find a cheaper alternative as I won't be using them so often.

4) A bone folder.

Super handy for getting pieces of card to fold over and stay folded over, though you can sort of get away with a rule for this but you are more likely to leave marks on your paper.

5) A stylus tool.

Handy dandy tool for scoring paper and card to help with folding or to add texture.  Also really good at making dots with nail polish if you dabble in nail art like I sometimes do.

6) A good sentiment stamp set.

If you are going to get stamps, begin with a sentiment stamp set, one that says almost everything.  I've got one from Sulivans and it has a great variety such as 'happy birthday', 'thank you', 'best wishes', 'thinking of you', and 'congratulations'.  Having a stamp set like this is useful for many projects.

7) A selection of things that are sticky.

Here I'm referring to how you will adhere things to your card.  My number one adhesive is double sided tape followed by double sided foam tape.  While many people use those tape runner things (they are pretty cool) I don't because I get my double sided tape way cheaper than the tape runners and if you haven't noticed by now I'm a bit frugal.  Also liquid glue is useful (I have a standard PVA glue and mod podge) for projects that require something a little stronger than tape.  I also tend to use regular cello tape frequently to adhere things to the back of panels and such where I know it won't be seen.  I've also got a small selection of 'washi' tapes that not only provide decoration for your cards but also can be used to hold bits of paper in place when die cutting or water colouring.

8) Scissors.

Pretty self explanatory, things need to be cut out or cut down.  Tape need to be snipped into submission.  Edges of cards need to be straightened when you stick the paper on wonky.  Many uses for the scissor.  I only have one pair but the amount of times I've wished for a bigger or smaller pair is starting to become ridiculous.  Though you can get away with just one pair provided they are of reasonable quality.

9) Colouring pencils and gel pens.

I have a set of faber castell pencils that I love to use on cards for colouring images.  I think having a set of reasonable pencils (i.e. not cheap kids ones) is good to have on hand for adding both soft and intense colour.  I also use gel pens frequently, I got a simple set a long time ago which has a decent selection of colours and I use them to add dash lines, lines, dots, and a bit of sparkle here and there.

10) A stamp press.

I only got one of these a few months ago and I haven't stopped using the thing since.  I brought a Fiskars brand press and I just love it.  Before I got one I only had a couple of small sized acrylic blocks so if I wanted to stamp larger images or border stamps I had to use the 'c' plate from my cuttlebug and that caused all sorts of problems...  The bonus with the Fiskars press is the grid lines and the sponge 'feet' that make it so much easier to line up stamps straight and stamp them in exactly the spot you want them to be.

Bonus supplies (that I think are handy):

- Patterned paper

Even a selection of plain coloured paper is great as you can use stamps to create patterns, but some patterns just can't be replicated with stamps and having pretty paper on hand is great if you are in a hurry.

- Embossing powders

In at least gold, sliver and clear.

- Glitter and glitter glue

Because shiny things are good. :)

- Buttons, rhinestones and pearls

Because embellishments can make a card.

- Die cutting machine

With a couple of embossing folders (swirls, dots, and stripes) and a few nesting dies (circles, hearts, and flowers) and if you can afford it some alphabet dies.

- Water colour paints

It's very on trend right now and they also make easy backgrounds.

- A heat tool

Though I got away with using a toaster for a long time, so long as you don't mind singeing your fingers!

- A scoring board

Handy for making card bases and those rosette things.

There you go, what I consider to be essential craft supplies for the wannabe card maker, plus the few 'extras' that I think are also great to have.

Till tomorrow.
Stacey

Spotlight on border stamps: Butterfly Chevron Card

Hello

Today I am continuing on with my spotlight on border stamps mini series.  I decided to stray from the normal sized card and make a mini one instead.  This card caused me a lot of grief, but then again I was having one of those days where things didn't want to co-operate with me......  While crafting I broke a wire in my bra, got pink ink everywhere and gave up on making the envelope for it.  Even after all this trouble I'm super happy with how the second version turned out (yes, I had to start again!).

Butterfly Chevron Card

Materials:

• White card (Trophee, 240gsm, white linen), silver paper (Rosie's studio).
• Pink ink (Tim Holtz distress, picked raspberry), silver ink (Martha Stewart) and a sponge 
• Chevron stencil (Memory box)
• Lace patterned border stamp (Cre8tiv)
• Butterfly die (fairly certain mine was from a magazine)
• Alphabet dies (Cuttlebug)
• Silver gel pen
• Pink gems

Directions:

1. Create a card base measuring 9cm wide by 10cm tall from the white card.  Die cut  the butterfly and the word 'hi' from the silver paper.  Cut an additional thin strip from the silver paper.
2. Using the stencil, sponge and pink ink, create the background.  Stamp the border image along edge with the silver ink.
3. Adhere the butterfly and 'hi' sentiment onto the front of the card, add three gems to the body section of the butterfly and use the silver gel pen to create the antenna and a trail for the butterfly.

That's it for today's card, stay tuned for Monday for the beginning of a week of celebration posts for the blog's one year anniversary! Again I've added this post to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog at http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/ , check it out!

Till next time,

Stacey

Spotlight on border stamps: Chevron Hello Card

Hello,

This week I have a more masculine card to share that uses a chevron stamp for the background.  As with most crafters, I struggle to create masculine cards because it's just easier to put flowers, butterflies and loads of glitter onto a card than it is to keep it clean and bold and manly.  So I challenged myself this week to make a masculine card!  This is what I came up with:

I even left the ends of the ribbon frayed!

Materials:

• White card (Trophee, 240gsm, white linen), red card (Trophee, 210gsm, intensive red) and grey paper.
• Yellow ribbon (Rosie's studio)
• Sentiment die cut (or you could make your own with stamps)
• Red ink in two shades (Rosie's studio)
• Chevron border stamp (Creativ)
• Sliver and red gel pens

Directions:

1. Create a top folding card base from the white card.  Cut a tag each from the red and grey paper.
2. On the card base, stamp the chevron vertically alternating the direction and ink shades as you go, I suggest starting the stamping in the middle.
3. Adhere the two tags together offset with dimensional foam.  Use the sliver gel pen to create a dash line border around the red tag and use the red gel pen to create three lines across the bottom of the grey tag.  Thread the ribbon through the holes and tie in a knot.  Adhere the sentiment die cut and then the whole piece to your card base.

Overall, it is a pretty simple card and didn't take me long to create at all.  Now I've done a masculine card, I can go back to my glitter and frills!

Till next week

Stacey

P.S.  I have added this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.  Check it out at http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Spotlight on border stamps: Elephant Baby Card

Hello!

Sorry for not posting last week.  I had a bad week and just couldn't bring myself to post or even make any cards.  This week things have been much better and I have even decided to do a spotlight on border stamps.  I've had border stamps for a while and I've always had trouble thinking of ways to use them, so I decided to challenge myself and create five cards using five different border stamps!  Here is the first:

Elephant Baby Card - Confessions of a Cardmaker

Gosh that elephant stamp is cute!

Materials:

• White card (Trophee, 240gsm, white linen)
• Black ink (Stazon) and three shades of blue ink (Rosie's Studio)
• Banner border stamp (Creative), elephant stamp and 'baby' sentiment (Fiskars)
• Blue gel pens
• Grey pencil (Faber-Castell)
• Blue glitter glue
• Round edge corner punch (Fiskars)

Directions:

1. Create a top folding card base from the white card.  Cut a medium sized rectangle also from the white card.
2. On the card base, stamp the banner across the width of the card using various shades of blue ink to create the background.  
3. For the rectangular piece, stamp the elephant in black and the baby sentiment in blue.  Colour the elephant with your pencil and punch the corners to round them.  Create a dash line border around the piece with the blue gel pen.  
4. Adhere the pannel to your card base with dimensional foam.  Round all four corners with the punch and apply a small amount of glitter glue to some of the banners for sparkle.

That's it for today!  Come back next week for another card featuring border stamps!

Stacey

P.S. I have added this creation to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge over at:

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Shaped Flower Card

Hello!

I have to be honest, this week I've had something of a dead week when it came to creativity.  Yesterday I made a card with a watermelon stamp but I decided I didn't like it so today I sat down and finally found some inspiration.  While I wasn't fully in the card making zone (I got glitter everywhere!) I still had enough momentum to complete a card I was happy with.

Materials:

• Purple card, pink patterned paper, very light purple paper.
• Nesting flower dies (Couture Creations - Daisy)
• Dots stamp (Couture Creations) and a 'thanks a bunch' stamp (Rosie's Studio)
• Embossing ink (Versamark), purple ink (Distress - seedless preserve), gold (Ranger) and sticky (Ranger) embossing powder
• Purple glitter (WOW - eggplant)
• Purple flower gem and gold heart sequins
• Purple and gold gel pens

Directions:

1. Cut two of the flowers from the purple card using the largest of your dies.  Cut one flower from the next sized die from the pink patterned paper.  Finally cut one more flower with the third largest die from the light purple paper.
2. On one of the large purple flowers score a line along what will be the top of the card about and inch down.  On the other purple flower, stamp, emboss and glitterfy it with the dots stamp.  Adhere the two purple flowers together but only above the score line you created.
3. Adhere the pink patterned flower to the card base.  On the smallest flower, stamp and emboss the sentiment in gold.  Sponge around the edge with purple ink.  Adhere to the card with dimensional foam.  Glue on the embellishments.  Use the gold gel pen to add hints of gold to the purple card and the purple gel pen to create stitching lines around the pink flower.

For the envelope:

1. Make the envelope from the light purple paper.  Stamp, emboss and glitterfy the dots stamp onto the front.  
2. Cut a piece of pink patterned paper, round the corners and adhere to the front.  Cut a piece of the purple card, round the corners and adhere.  Use the gel pens to add stitching lines around the pink and purple layer.

There you go! This card turned out to be easier to make than I had anticipated which was great and other than the mishap with the glitter, everything went smoothly.

I'm adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog.  Check it out at http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Till next time.

Stacey

Rosette Wedding Card

Hello!

It is a lovely day here today and I have achieved very little so far!  The good thing about blogging is that no one knows your currently sitting in bed and still in your pj's while you are writing your post.  I haven't really done any crafting over the last week as my desk has become somewhat over run by things.......  So today I'm featuring a card I made a good month ago for a friends wedding.

Yip, someone learnt how to use PicMonkey this week!

Materials:

• White card, sliver glitter paper, pearlised rose patterned paper (Rosie's studio), vellum
• White ribbon and round ribbon charm (Bella Bling)
• Embossing ink (Versamark) and silver embossing powder (Ranger)
• Congratulations stamp (a set from a magazine)

Directions:

1. Cut the white card to form a square card base.  Cut the sliver glitter paper 5mm shorter in both height and width than the base.  Cut the pearlised paper 5mm shorter in height and width than the glitter paper.  Punch or die cut a medium size circle from the middle of the glitter paper for the rosette.  Cut two strips of vellum 4cm wide.
2. Take the two strips of vellum and either score with a scoring board or with an embossing stylus, lines 1cm apart perpendicular to the longest side of the strip.  Accordion fold both pieces along the scored lines.  Adhere the strips together at both ends to form a circle.  Punch a circle out of scrap card and cover with a strong liquid glue.  Holding the rosette together so that there is no gap in the center, place it over the glue covered circle and either hold it or weight it down until the glue dries.
3. Stamp and emboss the congratulations stamp onto a strip of white card.  Use an embossing tool to create scored lines either side of the stamped image so that the strip can sit snugly over the circle of glitter paper.  Create one more scored line on each side 1cm along from the first line.  Fold the strip to form a shape of a banner and cut a small triangle from each end.  Adhere onto the glitter circle with dimensional foam and then adhere the piece to the top of the rosette also with dimensional foam.
4. Cut the ribbon so that you can wrap it around the patterned piece of paper.  Slide on the charm and adhere the ribbon on the back with tape.  Place some adhesive behind the charm to stop it from sliding around.
5. Adhere the glitter paper to the card base, followed by the patterned paper (with a strong adhesive, glitter paper doesn't like to play fair).  Adhere the rosette on top.

There you have it.  Please make sure to use a liquid glue or an adhesive that is strong when adhering both the patterned paper to the glitter paper and the rosette to the card.  I used double sided tape under the patterned paper and it fell off with the weight of the rosette and the glitter paper underneath.  Thankfully this happened well before I gave the card to the happy couple but I did end up sticking it on a bit wonky in the end when I was piecing it back together.

It is certainly not a quick card, but weddings allow you to be fancy and complicated because they demand a certain level of elegance.  I used this card as an excuse to buy some (rather expensive) pretty paper and embellishments I wouldn't normally get and to use them on a card rather than hiding them away (I have a problem with that).

Till next time.

Stacey

Life is wonderful - watercolour card

Hello,

Today I am writing this weeks blog post while I'm visiting my mother for her birthday.  The weather is nice, the food is great, and the company has been even better.  So to tie in this weeks card with the wonder that is Central Otago, I created this:

Life is wonderful - watercolour card.

Materials:

• Watercolour paper, black and blue card, sliver embossed paper
• Flowers, leaves, little dot, and 'life is wonderful' stamp (Couture Creations)
• Black waterproof ink (Stazon), embossing ink (Versamark)
• Sliver embossing powder (Ranger)
• Watercolours and brush

Directions:

1. Cut the black card to form a landscape top folding base.  Cut the watercolour paper to leave a small border of black.  Cut a small strip of silver paper and a wide strip of blue card.
2. Stamp flowers and leaves on to the watercolour paper with the black ink.  Stamp the sentiment on to the blue card and emboss with silver embossing powder.
3. Colour the flowers and leaves with the watercolours and leave to dry.
4. Cut the watercolour panel into two using the blue strip as a guide for your cut.  Adhere the watercolour piece to the top of the card front and the blue strip to the bottom.  Place the silver strip over the join between the two.  You can either keep the remaining watercolour piece for another card or adhere it to the inside of the card.

I shall finish this post with some photos of the wonderful scenery that served as my inspiration.

Till next time.

Stacey

Once again I am adding this post to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog.  Check it out: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/