Spirit of Creativity Tutorial & Tips Blog

Digital Paper Piecing

2011-04-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

A lot of people get pleasure from paper piecing and as our crafting has become more and more digital over the last couple of years, I thought I'd share a technique I find useful - digital paper piecing. This is one of those techniques that takes longer to explain than it does to do and once you know how to do it, it's very useful. Sometimes I paper piece the whole image and sometimes I just do part of the image and leave the rest to colour by hand. I'm going to show you how to do this using photoshop but I know it can be done with other graphics programs too, including paint.net which is a free program. You can use any digi designer papers that you have on your computer or CDs for this.

1. start by opening the image you want to use (in jpg format), and using the magic eraser (or equivalent if you are using another program) erase just the area you want to paper piece.

I've done just the jeans here and plan to use the denim paper from Joanna Sheen's Fashion boutique CD rom.

2. Open the dp you want to use too. I find it easier to have both screens visible side by side but there's no reason that you must if you prefer to work another way. With the dp screen selected, select layer > duplicate layer. This step is important so don't skip it. You'll see that you are now working in the copied layer if you look at the side panel:

3. With your digi image screen selected, go to select > select all then go to edit > copy. Click on the blue bar at the top of your dp screen to select it then edit > paste.

As you can see, the denim paper is now visible where I cleared the background in step 1 and looking at the side bar you will see the image as layer 2 - with just this layer selected go to layer > merge down.

Your side panel will now look like this:

Using the cropping tool, crop round the edge of the white of your image then edit > copy. You can now close the dp and the original image - make sure you don't save any changes.

4. Open a new document and select for it to have a transparent background then paste your image into this. Repeat step 1 to clear the background from the next part of the image you want to paper piece, then step 2 with your next piece of dp. In this instance I wanted to do the sofa with the pastel blue polished stone paper from Crafty Ann's.

Having transferred my image across, I moved it about on the paper until I found the area that worked best for the effect I wanted then did layers > merge down again:

Then crop around the white area again and copy into a new document. With this particular image, I decided to stop here because I want to colour the rest by hand but you can paper piece the whole image if you want to like I have done with both of these below, just by repeating these steps as often as necessary.

Venetian Mask 2 has been completely paper pieced using polished stone and mottled stone dps (all from Crafty Ann's) and a photograph of an evening sky over Gran Canaria believe it or not!

Faberge Style Egg, tropical beach has been done with various dps from Crafty Ann's.

A really good advantage to paper piecing digitally before printing off is that you don't waste any ink and every little helps!

Easel Card Tutorial

2010-06-09T04:23:00.000-07:00

Easel cards are really easy to make and look really effective. The method applies to any of the shapes - the only thing that you might need to change is the direction of one of the folds.

You will need a base card and a piece to use as a topper. I will do this tutorial for a square card and then look at other shapes, but once you've done one, you can do any of them.

I'm starting with:
• 1 piece of card 14.8 x 29.6cm (this is the largest that you can get from a sheet of A4 card)
• 1 piece of card 14.8 x 14.8

1. Score and fold the larger piece of card in half, then with the card as though you were going to make a tent card with it, score and fold what will be the top piece in half too so that it looks like this:

With this shape of card you can decide whether to make a mountain fold as I have or whether to do a valley fold. I prefer the mountain fold because I think I get a neater effect and it also seems to make the card more stable.

2. You are going to put that to one side for now while you work on the topper. Decorate this just as you do any card and while it is drying, decorate the base of the base card (the unfolded part). Remember to have something such as the greeting or an embellishment, raised up slightly so that the topper can rest against it when the card is on display.

3. When you have done this and everything on your topper is dry, you can attach it to the base card. If you've used the mountain fold, attach the BOTTOM of the topper to the folded front of the base card but if you've decided to use the valley fold, attach the top of the topper.

How you attach the two pieces will be personal choice, you can use wet glue, photo glue or double sided tape. I usually go for DST for speed. Which ever method you use, I have found it easiest to apply it to the base card - that way you can see exactly where to apply it.

4. Turn back a corner of the DST at the edge that will be the bottom edge of the topper. Turning back just a corner allows you to play with the position while you line the two edges up exactly. Once you have them lined up, stick the corner in place and hold the rest in place while you pull the rest of the backing off that strip.

5. You now have one completely stuck edge which will stay in place while you remove the backing from the other 3 sides:

6. Once you've done this and fully secured the topper your card is complete!

This is how it will look closed, and the following two pictures show it displayed:

To use the templates for the shaped cards, the process is the same as described above except that in some cases such as the triangular card, the decision as to whether to do the valley fold or the mountain fold is made for you and in this case it's easy to see which way you need to make the fold for it to work.

The PDF files have two pages - page 1 is the base card and page two is your topper and two slightly smaller sizes that can be useful for mats. (Tip: if you use the snapshot tool which you will find under tools - customise tool bar if you haven't already got it on your tool bar in adobe reader, you can copy and paste just the topper into word or a graphics program and resize it to your own choice. The icon for the snapshot tool is a camera and all you do is click on it then draw a box around the area you want to be copied then paste it into the application you are going to use.)

You can either print the templates directly onto the cardstock you are going to use or you can make a template to draw around any time you want to use it.

All of the templates work in the same way as the square one in that you fold the top part of the base card in half to attach the topper to. With the triangular version you must make it a mountain fold or it won't work.

It looks like the crease is in the wrong place, but remember that you are creasing to the centre fold which in this instance is the halfway point of the rectangular part in the middle.

Once you've mastered this technique, it's very easy to vary it and your cards will always provide a talking point! There are several differently shaped easel card templates available free here.

I hope you will have lots of fun with these cards.

Re-sizing and Cropping Digi Stamps

2009-12-27T03:29:00.000-08:00

Digi stamps are becoming more and more popular and are a great way to increase your stock of images economically as most are quite a bit less expensive than rubber or polymer stamps

I’ve put this tutorial together because since I started to use and design digi stamps, I’ve had a lot of queries about using them and I’d like you all to get as much pleasure out of them as I do.

One of the best aspects of digi stamps is the ease with which they can be resized to suit your project so we’ll look at isolating a specific image and re-sizing it first. You can do this is any photo manipulation package such as irfanview, photoshop, psp etc and you’re likely to be familiar with the one you have, so I’m going to do a step by step for re-sizing in MS Word.

1. Open the program then click on insert – picture – from file. Select the sheet your chosen image is on.

2. Hover the mouse over any image on the sheet and left click to select the sheet.

3. This tool menu will appear either on the page or the toolbar. Select the cropping tool which I have highlighted in yellow.

4. Go to any of the black squares on the four sides and centre the hatch over it. Left click and hold.

The hatch will change to a T shape and you can move the line to where you want it. Do this on all four sides to isolate your chosen image.

Take this box as close to the image as you can because it affects the finished size of your image. When you put the size in that you want later on in the process it will take into account any white space between the image and the black lines you can see when it’s highlighted so your actual image may be smaller

than you want it to be if there is too much space. I’ve left too much space in the picture above.

5.To re-size, either put the cursor over the centre of the picture and right click then click on format picture or click on the other icon I've highlighted on the picture tool bar.

Use either the up and down arrows beside either height or width, or highlight the numbers in one of these boxes and type in the size you want your image to be. You only need to do this in one of the boxes if you have the lock aspect ratio box checked – it will do the second one automatically. Then click on ok.

At this point you will have one single image the size you want it to be and you can print it off and have a play!

RUBBER STAMPING TUTORIAL # 4 ADDING COLOUR

2009-02-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

In this tutorial we're going to look at adding colour to your stamped images. There may well have to be a second one on this subject because there are so many ways to do this but we'll see how it goes. Many people feel (often wrongly) that it's their colouring in of the images that lets them down, but in reality, everyone can do it and it really comes down to practice, confidence and finding media that you feel comfortable with.

Before we go any further, I want to make it clear that I'm not trained in any way and what I'm passing on are methods that work for me that I have developed (and continue to develop) from tips from other people and experimentation. I will be talking a lot about the Derwent range, this is because I personally like this range and therefore most of my media is Derwent - however, there are other very good ranges out there too.

Some of the various media for adding colour are:

pens
water colour pencils/paints
pastels
dry chalks (also known as decorating or blending chalks)
Inktense
Coloursoft
Prismacolor
dye ink pads
specialist media such as Twinkling H2Os, cosmic shimmer, glimmer mists etc.

Useful tools are:

paint brushes in various sizes
water brushes
paper stumps
cotton buds/cosmetic buds
gamsol
sansador
baby oil (yes, really!)
tile or piece of acetate/plastic to use as a mixing palette

We'll have a look at some basic methods of adding the colour first because whichever media you use a lot of the initial steps will be the same.

Start with your lightest colour then add your shading colours going as dark as you wish to in stages
Use very light strokes - you can build up the depth of colour much more accurately and are more likely to avoid harsh lines
As you go along, use your judgement and be prepared to experiment with more than one type of media in a project to get the look you want to achieve
Don't forget about light and shading. Decide where your light source is coming from and keep that in mind as you apply the colour. The stamp will often give you a guide with this anyway. Don't be afraid to leave some areas white for highlights - especially for 'cute' characters. If you do forget, all is not lost, a white gel pen is very handy!

This has to be one of the simplest ways of adding depth to a stamped image and is stunning for monotone or sepia cards. All I've done with this one is stamp the image with a dye ink (in this case it was Distress Aged Mahogany) the stroked some of the lines with a damp brush to take some colour into some of the white space - don't have the brush too wet, you can add more water if you need it but it's very easy to spoil the image if your brush is too wet. Keep an old towel or paper towel handy to dab the brush onto. This particular stamp is good for illustrating another point - people, animals, trees, plants and even buildings etc need to be 'grounded' so that they don't look like they're floating in mid air! If there isn't shadow like this as part of the stamp, have a look and see if you think you need to add it.

This next way is another easy one when you are just starting to gain confidence. I've done this using watercolour but it could be done with any water soluable media. Using light strokes, add colour to the edges of the image. Keep your strokes light to avoid harsh lines. In this instance, I've just added the yellow to one side of the petals on the sunflower because they are small and it makes shading easier. Then I used a damp brush to draw the colour from the edges - don't be afraid to leave pale or even white areas to give depth. I was aiming for a colour wash effect here, but if you look at it when you've done it and feel that you want more depth of colour, you can take colour directly from the pencil onto your brush to add where you feel it's needed.

These pictures bring me to one of my favourite mediums - Derwent inktense. I don't know of an equivalent from another company but am prepare to edit this if someone can tell me differently!
This is fabulous media to work with. The pencils can be used dry to colour an image or water can be added to activate the ink. Just like water colours, you can use a lot of water to create an ink wash or less water for more vibrant colours. I use these a lot on my stampscape scenes. Once again keep your pencil stokes very light - in fact, if you look at picture #1, you could be forgiven for thinking that I haven't added any colour at all but picture #2 is the same one after I went over it with a damp brush. When it is dry, inktense is permanent which means that you can then add more colour on top for shading etc without muddying the colours. You can also add colour from other media without disturbing the colours you have already laid down. The tulips in picture #3 had Twinkling H 2Os added over the top of the inktense. Picture #4 shows the vibrancy of the colours more clearly.

The images above bring us to pastel pencils. There are several types of pastel media. The dry pencils have a chalk like texture and there are also soft and hard oil pastel sticks. I'm just dealing with the pencils today, purely because I haven't used the others yet. It is very easy to smudge this media so bear that in mind as you're working so that you can avoid your hand rubbing what you've already done. It's lovely media to work with though and can give some lovely effects. I used it to colour in the Tilda image on this card and if you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll be able to see how effective it was for creating the effect of textile on her clothes. As it smudges so easily, I'd suggest that you seal it either with one of the acrylic sprays that's been manufactured for the purpose or hairspray if your piece of work is likely to be handled. These pencils blend very well and the pictures of the pears show the same image in various stages. #1 shows the palest colour over most of the image, the second palest where I wanted some shading and the darkest at the very edge only. Only one of the leaves had some of the shading colours so that you can see the difference. Picture # 2 shows some blending of the colours with a cotton bud. Picture # 3 shows the completed blending. Picture #4 shows a technique that we haven't mentioned yet. After I got it to the stage in picture three, I completed the blending using a cosmetic bud dipped in baby oil. This helps to blend out the pencil marks and also seals the pastel media which means that it doesn't need to be sealed in any other way. It also means that you can get two different effects from one lot of pencils!

The picture above are illustrations of the pastel pencil techniques already described (2 without baby oil & 3 - with) a close look at #2 will show that I smudged the sleeve of the paw holding the holly - I'd like to say that I did it for the purposes of this tutorial but sadly I didn't! #1 shows another way of adding colour - that of dry chalks. You can apply these with special applicators, eye shadow applicators or cosmetic buds and use them in the same way we've already mentioned - start with the lightest colour and add darker colours for depth and shading. These are a very good way of helping your confidence when you haven't got much experience because they are very easy to use.

Last but by no means least today, we come to my new best friend. Derwent coloursoft pencils. There are similar pencils from other companies (such as prismacolour for example) but these are the ones I'm familiar with and you'd have to fight me for them!! These are colouring in for grown ups and are so satisfying and theraputic. You could get similar results from any good quality artists pencil with a soft pigment. It is really easy to get good results with these. To talk you through how I used them, picture A shows how I start by laying down a very light colour everywhere I want it. I'm not worrying about shading at this stage, just getting an even coverage. Picture B is where it starts to get more interesting (and also where it looks like it's gone wrong!) For the leaves, I used a darker shade to add colour where I want shading and for the rose I used the same red but used heavier strokes. Picture C is where I bring the two things together. I went back to the paler green for the leaves and the same red for the rose and added more colour to the paler areas to blend the colours together. Use lighter strokes again and just keep adding the colour until you're happy with the result. In picture #1 of the finished roses, I went back to it the following day and did some more because I'd done the original under artificial light and wanted to do more when I saw it in daylight. Picture # 2 shows a rose done in exactly the same way but then blended using baby oil on cosmetic buds - again two effects from one set of pencils. The baby oil has replaced gamsol.

I'm going to leave this tutorial here but I hope you will gain confidence and realise that yes, you can do this and I'd dearly love to see some of your work so please do feel free to link to this post.

RUBBER STAMPING TUTORIAL # 3 BASIC STAMPING

2009-01-29T06:19:00.001-08:00

This tutorial is for those of you who think you can't stamp! We're starting with basic stamping and future tutorials will look at adding colour and specialist techniques. The latter part of this tutorial takes the form of a project.
You can click on the images to enlarge them if you need more detail.

Keep all your scrap pieces of card, they're ideal for practising on and for making small, stamped toppers. Keep your eyes open too - the pieces of card at the bottom of this picture lined a pack of chocolate biscuits! Don't forget that if a textured piece isn't suitable for stamping on the textured side, it may be if you turn it over and use the other side.

Lay your stamp flat on your working surface and take the ink pad to your stamp - this way you can make sure that all of the stamp gets an even coating of the ink. Try not to be too heavy handed, lots of light tapping is much better than a little heavy squishing.

If you have been a little heavy handed and got some ink on the edge of the rubber, take the time to clean the edges before you stamp - a cotton bud can be very useful for this.

These images show some common mistakes, from the top left:

uneven pressure on the stamp mean that some parts have been missed
top right shows what can happen when excess ink isn't cleaned from the edges of the rubber
the bottom picture hasn't had the excess ink removed and the stamp wasn't put down cleanly resulting in blurring so let's look at how to avoid these.

I have used a stamping mat although this doesn't suit everyone so before you buy one, you could try using an old telephone directory which will do a very similar job. Putting a piece of scrap paper under your card will help to protect your working surface. Turn your inked stamp over and lining it up where you want to place it on your card, carefully but firmly place it straight down.

Once you have it in place, keep hold of it with one hand so that it doesn't move and use the fingers of the other hand to exert gentle pressure all over the stamp. Do not 'rock' the stamp - you are more likely to end up with mistakes such as those pictures above. When you've done this, lift the stamp straight up to avoid smudging your image.

This is just a little tip when you are working with a wood mounted stamp - if you are wanting to make the image into a topper, line two of the edges up with the card (in this picture I've lined up the top and left hand edge) and before you lift the stamp off the card, use a pencil to mark where the other two eges are. If you use these pencil marks as your cutting line, the chances are your image will be in the middle and is easily trimmed so that you're happy with it. Keep one hand on the stamp untill you've done this, the only reason I haven't is because my other hand was holding the camera.

Before we go on to use the image in a project, I just want to mention stamping with unmounted stamps. You will need something to mount them on and the most popular method is acrylic blocks which come in a variety of sizes. It's useful to have a few sizes but if you can only manage to get one to begin with, you're better will a large one because you can still use it for small stamps but not vice versa. If your block is a reasonable size for your stamp, place it centrally as in number 1 in this picture - although, having taken the photo I can see that the stamp needs to come lower down on the block or the church spire probably won't stamp properly! A lot of the time you are likely to be using stamps that are quite a bit smaller than one block and too big for another one you have. In this situation, it's best to put the stamp on one side of the block and put a clean, uninked stamp on the other side of the block (2) to balance it and reduce the chances of 'rocking' and spoiling your image. Sometimes, to get a good balance it will be necessary for the two stamps to be very close to one another on the block (3) - in this instance, it's better to ink your stamp up before you add the clean one to the block so that you don't get some ink on the clean stamp accidentally.

My stamped image ready to use. We're not colouring it in on this occasion, we'll cover that in another tutorial but the rest of this one will show you that even if you aren't confident about colouring yet, you can still make a lovely card.

Giving your topper an edge helps it to stand out. All I've done here is to stroke the edges with the same ink pad I used to stamp with.

You could add the ink with a sponge instead or you could do what I've done here, which is both! Use a piece of sponge to pick up a little ink from the pad.

Tap it onto your scrap paper first to make sure you haven't got too much on the sponge.

Gently dab it on the four corners of your image then see if you like what you've done - you can always add more but you can't take it off again.

Depending on the size of the image, you can decide at this point whether you want to add it to the sides too.

When you've got it how you want it, add some DST (double sided tape) to the four sides of the back and turn the corners back just a little. Cut a piece of silver mirror or foil card 4mm larger than your image to give you a 2mm border all round.
Lay your image onto your silver mat and when you are satisfied that you have it centered, stick the four corners down.

Gently pull the backing from the DST to stick the image down firmly. Doing it this way is the easiest way to get your border even.

Cut a complementary piece of paper one centimetre wider than the silver mat and tear at an angle at the bottom so that it reaches about two thirds of the way down your base card (in this case the base card is a DL) for your second mat and use DST to stick your image and silver mat to it. You can either use DST or foam pads to attach this to your base card.

All you need to do now is add your greeting and any embellishments you like - and if you're feeling brave you can even add a tiny bit of colour like I have to the heart on this one.

As you can see, you can make a stamped card very simply that someone will treasure - I intend to enter this one into a challenge in fact!

Now it's your turn! I don't mind whether you're a new stamper or a seasoned stamper, I'd love to see your take on this card. You can use any colourway and stamp you have in your stash, and follow this layout adding your own twist or not as you choose. If you do make it and have a blog, please link it back to here so that I can come and have a look at your masterpiece - I am confident that it will be a masterpiece!

Rubber Stamping Tutorial # 2 Stamps & Card/Paper

2009-01-25T09:05:00.000-08:00

Click on image to enlarge

There has been a huge increase in amount of choice available to the stamper over the last few years - and not all of it is rubber! In this tutorial I want to take a look at what is out there so that you can make informed choices - you can spend a lot of money then later wish you had kept it for something you know you will use a lot more (been there, done that, bought the T shirt and designed a new 'un!) I can't pretend to be able to prevent you from making purchases that you'll later regret because we're all human and inevitably will buy stamps that we fall in love with only to find that we rarely use them. What I do hope this guide will do, is help you to find the best type of stamps for your needs.

Let's look at the different types.

Wood Mounted: (images numbered 6)
These stamps are sold singly. They are made of rubber (usually either red or grey in colour) and have a piece of cushioning between the rubber and the wooden block. Most have a picture on the wooden block of the image as it will be when stamped. If the stamp has been well etched and properly mounted (very occasionally, a rogue one can slip through the quality control process just like with anything else) the cushioning and support of the wood will give a good quality impression.

The disadvantages of wood mounted stamps are:

They can take up a lot of space to store

It isn't so easy to see exactly where you are placing the image

You can't run them under water to clean without risking them eventually falling off the block!

Unmounted Rubber: (images numbered 2 & 4)
These are becoming more and more popular and are of the same quality as the wood mounted ones from the same company.

The main advantages are:

They are available in themed plates as well as singly

They are more cost effective

You can get far more in the same amount of space

Because you are cutting them out yourself, you can cut as close to the image as you want to take the time and trouble to, reducing the chance of getting ink where you don't want it. You do need to be careful that you don't cut into the actual image though.

It is easier to see where you are placing the image especially if you use a clear acrylic block.

You get to choose how you want to mount your stamp and can even mount several on one block at the same time - very useful if you are creating a background or collage.

You can choose whether or not to mount them onto cushioning.

You can use any stamp cleaner on them.

Disadvantages:

For some people, cutting them out.

Clear Polymer: (image number 3)

These are also becoming more popular. Their main advantages are:

They are available in themed plates as well as singly

They are more cost effective

You can see right through the stamp and therefore can see exactly where you are placing the image

They take up very little storage space.

They are self cling and don't need to be mounted onto cushioning.

Disadvantages:

The image isn't usually as crisp as with rubber so polymer is less successful with detailed images

You can't use solvent ink cleaners on them (such as the stazon cleaner) because it damages the polymer and makes it sticky. The stamps can still be cleaned in other ways but are likely to be stained. This doesn't affect their use though.

With both the unmounted rubber and the clear polymer stamps you will need something to stick them to in order to make them easy to use. Acrylic blocks are readily available in various sizes and are the easiest way to do this. If you choose to mount your rubber stamps onto cushioning such as eazi mount,(number 5) Kling on or umount, they will cling to the acrylic block for use and peel off easily afterwards. It is possible to use the trimmed stamps without cushioning by using a glue stick (e.g.Pritt stick) to stick it to the block. Both will need to be washed afterwards and it is best to use a stamping mat in order to get a good impression.

Clear polmer are self cling in the state they are bought. If the eazi mount etc or clear polymer begin to lose their cling, just give them a wipe with a damp cloth and leave to air dry and they will be fine again.

There is another method available called Tack 'n' Peel that uses self cling applied directly to the acrylic block and left on there and the trimmed, unmounted rubber stamps will cling to this. There is only a little cushioning with this method so a stamping mat (number 8) would be recommended. I haven't used this method personally but you can find out more about it here, and my blogging and forum friend Ann, swears by it.

If you take good care of your stamps they will reward you with long and faithful service.

Store them out of direct sunlight

Clean them after each stamping session. To clean them you can use a special stamp cleaner, but I usually use an alcohol free baby wipe for water based inks and a solvent based cleaner for permanent inks such as stazon, except for the clear polymer as mentioned above.
Do not store your eazi mounted stamps on acetate, they will react badly to each other. You can buy storage sheets or use laminated card such as number 7 in the picture

There are many different types of card and paper available for crafting and not all of them will give the results you are looking for which can sometimes lead people to believe they just can't do it. What I will say here is to experiment. Keep your scraps for practising on and for trying out whether something will work. Some of the textured cards and papers give very poor results regardless but some can work if a different ink or less detailed stamp is used.

The picture above shows the same two stamps, one more detailed than the other, stamped in both stazon, indicated with the s and versafine, indicated by the v, on - from top to bottom, linen effect, hammered and smooth card so that you can see for yourself that sometimes an image will work better using a different ink or card/paper type. All the images were stamped on a stamping mat even though they are mounted on cushioning too - that is my own personal preference. I always use a stamping mat for very large stamps.

Rubber Stamping Tutorial #1 - Ink Pads & Inks

2009-01-22T09:07:00.001-08:00

These are just a small sample of my ink pad stash!

Many people are put off rubber stamping by the huge array of ink pads that are available. Trying to find the right ones for what you want can be an expensive matter of trial and error so the object of this workshop is to help you to find the right type of ink for the job you want it to do. Although I've given the names of some of the brands as I've talked about the different types, this is by no means an exhaustive list of what is available and is just intended as a guideline.

DYE - WATER BASED
Adirondak, Memento, Memories, Marvy, Impress, Kaleidacolor, Big & Juicy, Ink it up

These are just some of the water based dye inks available. Most of them I have used and some not, but they all behave in similar ways. They usually dry quickly on porous surfaces and are washable should you get them on yourself. Which one to choose will come down to the job you want it to do and personal preference but they will all give a crisp clean image. They can vary in price and for some people that can be a consideration - particularly when you are just starting out. It's worth noting that some of them are available in small as well as large sizes which can considerably reduce the initial outlay when you need a good range of colours in a short space of time.

They are available as single colours and some, such as Adirondak, Kaleidacolor and Big and Juicy also do a range of multicoloured pads which are wonderful for brayered backgrounds. (We will cover brayered backgrounds in another tutorial).

These ink pads can also be used to add colour to your images by pressing a piece of acetate, plastic or if the design of the container will allow, the lid, onto the pad then using a paint brush to pick up the colour. Any colour not used on this occasion can be left to dry and re-activated with water for use another time.

You can add colour to images stamped with these pads if the media you use is non water based such as dry chalks or pencils. Water colours etc would cause the outlines of your stamped image to 'bleed'.

DYE - PERMANENT
Stazon, Whispers

These ink pads can be used on almost any surface and, unlike the water based pads mentioned above, will dry on non-porous surfaces such as glossy and semi-glossy card and acetate too. They give a clean, crisp image and are permanent when dry. This means that they will be fade resistant and you can use any colouring medium and be confident that the outlines won't 'bleed'. They aren't water soluble so it might be a good idea to wear old clothes or an apron (although this last piece of advice might apply to just me!!)

PIGMENT
Versacolor, ColorBox, Encore, Adirondak

These ink pads come in a huge range of colours including metallic. They contain glycerine which means they will remain wet and slightly sticky for a while and this allows them to be used with embossing powders. Embossing powders give a lovely raised edge or other effect to an image and are very popular - we will cover their use in another tutorial.

Pigment ink pads can also be used just as they are and some will dry to a nice sheen but most need to be given time to dry or be dried with a heat gun. They do not give as crisp an image as dye ink pads, but can still be very effective. Also, because of the stickiness of the glycerine, the colours can be enhanced and even changed using dry chalks.

FAST DRYING PIGMENT
Brilliance, Versafine

These ink pads are gaining in popularity. They produce a crisper image than standard pigment ink pads and often have unique properties of their own.

The Brilliance range can be used with embossing powders and many of the colours have a pearleacent finish. Unlike other pigment inks they will also dry on non-porous surfaces such as acetate and glossy card etc. The Versafine pads dry very quickly on porous surfaces and give a crisp, permanent, fade resistant finish that's perfect for colouring with any medium. However, it won't dry on non-porous surfaces unless you use a heat gun or embossing powder. Unlike most of the other ranges, you won't find re-inkers for versafine - the manufacturers claim that these pads are so juicy that you will never need one, and I have to say that the black one that I've been using for the past 5 years still seems to be as juicy as the day I bought it!

CHALK
Versamagic, ColorBox

These ink pads give a beautiful, soft, matt finish and come in a wide range of colours. Again, they are fade resistant and won't 'bleed' if they come into contact with water although they can give a fuzzy outline when used on a very porous surface. They work very well with glossy card.

PENS. Quite a few of the ink pad ranges also do a pen version and there are many other types of brush pens that have been designed with rubber stampers in mind. They can be used for directly colouring the rubber stamp and are ideal if you want to be able to use several different colours in specific places on a stamp and also for colouring in a stamped image.

Versamark - in my opinion, this is something that should be in every stamper's stash, both the pad (which comes in two sizes) and the pen. It is very sticky so takes embossing powder and dry chalks well. It is also a watermark pad/pen and can be used to create lovely backgrounds as the ink dries to one shade darker that the card stock used - dark card is especially effective with this technique.

Emboss (tinted & Clear) these pads again contain glycerine and are intended for use with embossing powders but can also be used with dry chalks.

Tim Holts Distress - designed for use with the Tim Holtz Distress embossing powders.

SPECIALIST PADS AND INKS

Opalite - these are 'interference' ink pads which means that as the image is moved in the light the colours will change. They work best on dark card.

Archival - these are fade resistant but are also useful for scrapbooking when the materials used are important to prevent damage to your precious photos.

Jaquard's Castaway Ink Pad (a re-inker is also available) I have not personlly used this so this is the manufacturer's write up about it:

"Castaway is a truly unique stamp pad! When the stamped image is heated with an iron, the color of the paper is magically altered. Instead of adding color to the surface of the paper, the color of the paper itself is transformed! the result is a marbled or dappled antique look which is similar to batik fabric. See the exciting results Castaway has on different papers, as each will be unique."

I think I'll be giving this a go sometime! It is available in the UK from Stamping mad .

Pearlex - this is another range that I have not tried but must say that the write up sounds interesting.....this is what they say on the Stamping Mad website:

"The stamp pads are water-soluble, acid free, archival, light fast and wash fast. They are designed for use on many surfaces including paper, card, fabric, shrink plastic, clay, glass, wood and others. Clean stamps with water immediately after use.

Manufacturer's note - these inks are very permanent on most surfaces without any need for setting. On some surfaces, such as clothing that will be washed repeatedly, heat setting may be required. To set on fabric let the ink dry and then iron using a dry iron set appropriately for the type of fabric."

They come in a range of colours that include two tones of the same shade on one pad (e.g. two tone red), metallic colours and interference colours.

Fabrico - as the name suggests, this can be used on fabric. It is water soluble so mistakes can be washed out with soap and water if done quickly and is 'cured' to make it permanent and washable by ironing it on both sides.

Distress by Tim Holtz. Distress inks are dye inks with a slower drying time that have been specifically designed to make giving an aged or distressed look to paper and card easy but can also be used to stamp and/or colour and image. They are ideal if you enjoy creating 'vintage' art.

Alcohol Inks - Tim Holtz, Posh Impressions.

These only come in bottles and not ink pads and are not designed for stamping with. In fact, they are pretty much a tutorial to themselves.

As new products come on to the market or I come across some I haven't seen before, I'll add them to this tutorial. In the meantime, I hope you find it useful and have fun playing with them.

Gatefold Card With Recessed Frame

2008-12-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

I designed this card when I was one of the four JS Forum members chosen to take part in the "Ready Steady Craft" challenge for the december newsletter. There's more detail about the card itself on my main blog - this workshop is to give you the details of the basic card.

1. With your sheet of A4 card in landscape orientation, trim to 29cm. A good qualitly card works best for this and I've used Stardream here.

2. Score and fold at 6.5cm, 8cm, 21cm & 22.5cm

3. For the recessed frame part of the card, cut another piece of stardream card in landscape orientation at 15cm then score at 1cm & 14cm.

4. Make a template from a piece of paper so that you get the frame in the right place. How big the recessed part of your frame will be will be dictated by what you intend to put in it. With the right side of the card facing you, lay your template over the top and use a sharp point to mark the 8 corners of the frame.

5. Remove your template and score between the points you marked as in the picture above.

6. Using a craft knife and ruler, cut on the diagonal from corner to corner in the centre rectangle and from the outer corner to the inner corner on each of the four corners. The distance between the two sets of scorelines is 1cm.

7. Turn the card over and fold along the outer score lines towards the outer edges and along the inner score lines towards the centre.

8. At this point is should look like the picture above.

9. Turn it back to the right side and put DST along the two 1cm edges.

10. Decorate both pieces of the card as you wish before assembling. To assemble, stick the 1cm part of the inner card to the 1.5cm sides of the outer card making sure that the edge of the inner card butts up against the back fold of the outer card to ensure that the card closes cleanly.

The finished card.

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Wallet using 2 sheets A4

2008-10-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

I recently made a criss cross wallet using 12x12 double sided scrapbook paper following this tutorial. It was for our granddaughter's birthday and I was happy with it, bit it did occur to me that it might have been nice to be able to make one to match her card so I decided to give it a go - it worked fine so I thought I'd share it with you. The beauty of this is that you will have so much more choice with regard to the papers you use. I've printed on both sides of the paper and on this occasion have mixed my CDs. The patterned side is from the Artylicious Filigree Fusion and the silk paper is from Joanna Sheen's Fashion Boutique CD I. The two designs compliment each other beautifully. I used a 160gsm paper, but it will still work with as light as 90gsm - it won't be as robust though.

Click on images to enlarge

1. Print both sides of both sheets of paper

2. Decide which side of your paper want to be the 'inside' and work with this side facing you. With the paper in portrait orientation, score at 1/2", 3" & 6".

3. Turn the paper to landscape orientation with the 1/2" score at the bottom and score at 31/4" and 81/4". Repeat all scorings on the second sheet.
4. Fold on the 1/2" score line

5. Fold the top and bottom corners to meet the next score line
6. Leaving the previous folds in place, fold at the 3" scorline

7. Turn the paper over and valley fold the 31/4" and 81/4" score lines that you did with the paper in landscape orientation. As you can see in the picture, there are two v shaped 'pockets' at the bottom.

8. Tuck one of these pockets inside the other - which one doesn't matter so just choose which ever one gives you the look you like best for the paper you're using. Repeat all these folds for the other sheet so that you have two pieces to this stage. Then turn them so that the pockets are at each side rather than the bottom.9. & 10. Bring the two pieces together tucking them inside each other on both sides.

11. & 12. This is how it will look inside and out. With the inside facing you (top pic) fold it in half along the vertical score line.

13. & 14. These two photos show the finished article. It works out the same size as one made from 12 x 12 paper and has so many potential uses. It would make a great brag book but I think it would make a great gift for a crafty friend filled with ATCs - it will hold 6 and it would be fabulous if you wanted to make someone a gift of ATCs or photos to commemorate a special event such as a birthday, christening, special anniversary, exam success, new baby........the list could go on!

I hope you give this one a go, it's very easy to make and has so many uses - my first one was used to give a gift of money, and at least I felt I'd put some effort into the gift.

Twinkling H2Os and Waste Water Backgrounds

2008-08-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

This technique came about last year when I was watching a demo on create and craft. I can’t remember now who was doing it or the products that were being used but I know I didn’t own them but liked the effects so I decided to see if I could re-create something similar with twinkling H2Os – and this is the result!

Click on the images to enlarge

1. Select the colours you want to use and spritz them with plenty of water then leave them for 10 – 15 minutes to soften.

2. Have two pots of water for cleaning your brush between colours, but only have a small amount of water in one of them – I only had about 15ml. Using plain water, dampen your card stock.

3. Starting with the palest colour, start adding blobs of each of the colours you’ve chosen.

4. Because you’ve dampened the card stock and are using quite a lot of liquid with the paint, the card stock will bend which will cause the colours to run. You can get some pleasing effects this way but if you don’t want that, add less water to the paint so that it’s less runny.

5. Rinse your brush between each colour twice – in the pot with the small amount of water first, then in the other one to make sure that your brush is really clean so that you don’t contaminate your colours.

6. Using a smaller brush, move the colours around on your paper until you’re happy with what you create. Then leave it to dry.

7. As you can see the card stock has bowed – this is nothing to worry about, it will flatten as it dries.

8. These are two I created using exactly the same colours in differing amounts. As you can see, they have flattened again.

9. Now you can have some more fun. The following pictures all show backing paper and card created using the waste water from the pot holding the small amount of water. From left to right, paper with water just painted on using long horizontal strokes, paper created using the same waste water spritzed from a mini mister and finally, card with the waste water first spritzed with the waste water and then over spritzed with a metallic perfect pearls mixed with water. You could also use Glimmer Mists or Cosmic shimmers to get the same effect – because I have neither of these, I used what I had which is in keeping with the spirit of this workshop I suppose!

This final picture shows the one I made the first time I tried this and as you can see, I haven’t blended the colours as much and got a different effect. This card and paper was used to make a card for my brother - in - law

Background technique with versamark and inks

2008-07-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

This is a technique that I may have invented! I can't be sure that no-one else has already done it but I haven't seen it anywhere. It came about when I wanted to create some backgrounds to use with my stampscapes stamps. I've seen some beauties done with distress inks and alcohol inks but despite having enough stash to keep a small craft shop in business for several months, I don't have either in my stash so I decided to have a play around and see what I could come up with and the result was this:

Click on the pictures to enlarge

1. Using a brayer, cover a piece of glossy or semi glossy card evenly with versamark ink.

2. Add the ink colours of your choice. I've found that dye inks or chalk inks work best for this technique.

3. When you have all the colours you want for your project you can use a sponge to move and blend the colours to get the effect you want. The versamark keeps the ink workable for quite a while on these types of card so you will then need to leave it to dry or use a heat tool to dry it off before stamping on it.

4. At this point you can add more colour if you wish in specific places.

The card I made using this image can be seen on my main blog and I hope this suggestion will help you make more use of what's already in your stash.
Ann x

I've been having another play with this technique - this time I used black glossy card and opalite inks. The irridescence in real life is beautiful but very difficult to capture in a photo so I'm posting more than one to give you a better chance! It's worth playing with though because the effects are stunning.The following pictures show the same thing but this time the colours were mixed together more and then covered with one layer of clear embossing powder and heat embossed. You coould go on to do as many layers of ep as you want to and it will get smoother each time so it just depends on the look you want. Give it a go and have fun!

6 x 6 Double Pocket Card

2008-07-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

I first saw a tutorial for a double pocket card on Splitcoaststampers so the original idea isn't mine but this is my re-sizing of it.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

1. You need a piece of 12 x12 double sided paper or card stock. (A fairly light card stock works best). Fold in half one way then turn the card and fold in half the other way to give you four equally sized squares.

2. Make a slit in the paper along the horizontal fold line from the left to the centre.

3. Decide which side of the paper you want to be your main colour on the front of the card. With this side face down, fold the bottom left hand point to the centre, lining up the two straight edges with the horizontal and vertical fold lines and crease well. (Note: it makes later assembly easier if you just abut the fold lines.)

4. Leaving this new fold in position, turn the paper over and fold the top left hand corner towards the middle leaving a gap between the edge of the folded corner and the vertical fold line of 2.5 inches.

5. Fold this top left hand piece across the right hand piece.

6. Fold the bottom right hand piece up.

7. Fold the left side piece round behind to form a traditional side opening card.

The pictures below show where to put the double sided tape. Be careful how far you put it into the corners or you’ll find yourself peeling some back off!

The card is now ready to decorate as you choose and you can have fun deciding what to put into the pockets – I’ve used tags this time but you could have bookmarks, photos, artwork or even seed packets!

Patterned Foil Card

2008-07-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

Quite a while ago, (long enough for A & B to still be on Create and Craft) I bought some A4 sheets of patterned silver foil card. There were quite a few different designs and are lovely but there have been some that I've been very slow to use because much as I like them, I could never seem to find a use for them in my projects. Then I decided to give them a try through the cuttlebug and all of a sudden they work for me! I found that the script folder virtually "ironed out" the pattern while the others I have leave some of it behind in varying degrees. The photo below shows the card as it originally was and the effects of three different folders - textile texture, paisley and script. Hope this will give you even more ways to use some of your card stock and your cuttlebug folders!

Click on the image to enlarge

Economical Double Sided Foam Tape

2008-07-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to enlarge

This is just a quick tip I thought I'd share. I came across it when my DH need to do some repairs on the porch windows at our previous house. He got some double sided foam tape from our local window supplier and was left with at least as much as you see here so gave it to me. It's excellent! It doesn't stick to the scissors unlike most DIY double sided foam and it's great for sticking to awkward surfaces because when you stick it down it means it!! The one I have here is 1mm but I believe you can get it in different depths. The price? just over £5 and my last one lasted me 18 months and that included DH using it sometimes for different things too!
Ann x

Cuttlebug Embossed and Glittered Acetate Card

2008-04-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

I was making this card for a couple of challenges and thought it might make a good subject for a tutorial - so here goes! This one is for a 14.9cm square card but you can use any shape and size you wish.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

1. Cut a piece of acetate and 1 piece of card to 13.8cm square and a second piece of card to 13.9cm square in your choice of colourway. At first I was going to use the same card for both pieces but changed my mind later as you'll see. The 1mm less for the base card and acetate makes it easier to put together without the lower pieces showing where you don't want them to.

2. Put your piece of acetate through your cuttlebug folder of choice - the thicker the piece of acetate the better result you will get. Turn the acetate over and work on the debossed side. Using a glue that dries clear add the glue to the debossed areas then sprinkle with glitter. You may find it better to wait for the glue to partially dry before knocking the excess glitter off so that the glue doesn't move. Then patience is required because you'll need to wait for it to dry - how long this will take depends on what glue you've chosen to use. Meawhile you can be getting the rest of the elements ready.
3. Using your 13.9cm piece of card and a clear embssing or versamark pad, stamp a design in two diagonally opposite corners. I used parts of an oak branch stamp from one of my stampscapes sets. Then I heat embossed with a silver sparkle embossing powder.

4. Partially cut out a circle in the cenre of your piece of card taking care not to cut into any of your embossed areas. Cut around these areas with a pair of scissors or a craft knife.

5. When your piece of acetate is dry, you can then assemble the card. Put DST around all four edges of the right side of the acetate - which is the embossed side, you want the glitter to be trapped underneath. Stick this to the prepared top piece of card. Put DST around the four sides of the wrong side of the bottom piece of card and self adhesive foam around the edge of the right side of this piece then attach to the acetate and card.
6. Attach this to your base card and add your choice of embellishments. I chose a flower with wire from papermania and a dragonfly which I rubber stamped onto vellum and embossed with silver detail embossing powder and decorated with crystals along the body.

Reverse Pyramage and Variation

2008-04-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I recently made a reverse pyramage card and managed to confuse people about what I'd done so I thought a tutorial might be a good idea and I'll try to explain it better! As an added bonus, all you need is one extra image and you can get a second card out of what would normally be waste. How many images you need will be decided by how many layers you want - for this one I have used 5 layers including the base. All the images are the same size.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

1. Start by putting your two base layers to one side and turn the other four over. Mark off 1cm around each edge of the first one, 1.5cm off the second one, 2cm off the third one and 2.5cm off the fouth one.

2. Using a craft knife and ruler, cut out the centre square of each one. This will leave you with 4 pictures and 4 'frames'. Put the centre squares to one side for now.

3. Put either 3D foam squares or silicone glue onto the back of the four frames and assemble them on top of the base image starting with the widest frame and finishing with the narrowest.

4. When you've finished assembling it, it will look like a set of steps going down and will draw your eye into the picture.

5. Then you can assemble the squares you cut out onto the other base image to create the usual type of pyramage

That's all there is to it and I hope you enjoy creating your own.

The images used here came from Joanna Sheen's Victorian Christmas CD.

DIAMOND VARIATION

The two pictures below show a variation for these cards - a diamond shape. It is done in the same way as the one above so step by step photos aren't needed.

1. Mark the halfway point on each of the four sides of each layer.

2. On the first layer mark another dot 1 cm in from the edge of the card in line with your first dot that you made to mark the middle of the side. Repeat for the other three sides then join the dots to give you the diamond. Using a craft knife and ruler, cut out the diamond shapes.

3. Repeat for your other layers making your second dots at 1.5 cm, 2 cm and 2.5 cm from the edge and cut out in the same way as the first layer.

The assembly of the cards is exactly the same as above. You can see samples of these here on my main blog.

If you would like to create a frame card for your pyramage images, you'll find a great tutorial at Papertake Weekly.

Oval Spring Card Adaptation

2008-04-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

This is how I adapted a spring card to change the shape from diamond to oval. The instructions for the fold I started with are on the Joanna Sheen website under Tuition and Advice.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Having got my card cut and folded to the original shape I opened it out fully and used a template to cut round it get the oval top as in the first picture.

The second picture shows how it looks when the excess has been cut off.

Trim the corner to follow the new shape, not forgetting the other side too.

This is how it should look when you're finished - easy really! All you need to do now is let your imagination run free and decorate it any which way you choose!