Today I have a happy little minion card for you! Like me, you may have seen this idea floating around Pinterest and this is my take on it.  I wanted to do this for my friend as soon as I spotted it - and now her birthday is just a few weeks away I finally have the opportunity to play! To see how this cute little guy came together, please read on!

 

I started with a plain black card base and layered a yellow mat on top.  For the eyes; I added a matching black strip of card (as the goggle strap), two kraft circles (goggles), two white circles (whites of eyes), two deeper brown card circles (iris) and finally two black circles (pupils).  I cut all the circles out using a simple compass style circle cutter which doesn't matter in this case as the top layer is black, the small hole it creates cannot be seen.  I also used this circle cutter to cut my minion's smile.  I first cut a larger circle and then the inner smaller circle which should create a frame then I used my scissors to cut this in half - voila, smile! His overalls are simple shapes cut from textured blue paper - I added a little blue ink to his pocket to make it stand out.  The finishing touches are domed black circles for buttons (brads would also be great) paper strips for hair and a little white pen to the iris's for shine lines.

 

I finished the inside of the card by adding a white mat to write on, with the fun sentiments shown above.  I know my friend will find it all highly amusing - hope you have too! :)

Thanks for reading, Keep crafting!

Panda,

A Pretty Pastel Easter Bunny Card

Here is a another quick post on a pretty pastel Easter card; please see my post before last for a couple of other ideas of a similar nature, also using the same inks, stamps and techniques.

 

I started with a simple flower stencil and layered Rose Bud and Cantaloupe Memento ink directly onto a white card base.  I then stamped two of the same stamp onto a plain white mat and inked the edges with pink.  On a spare piece I stamped another bunny and coloured all three with alcohol markers.  I cut and layered the third bunny out using foam squares and mounted over a white ribbon.  To create the banner, I repeat stamped my sentiment, buffed over the previously mentioned inks and trimmed the ends.  I scored, folded and mounted the centre with foam tape and outer  with flat adhesive.

 

Please see my previous Easter card here: Getting Ready for Easter

 

Thanks for reading, Keep crafting!

 

Panda.

Homemade DIY Simple Cheap Stamp Press

Today I want to share an easy to make item that's useful to have for any stamper.  It's not my most exciting creation however it is one of the most useful and well used.  It all started when I was considering buying a stamp press but it was a little on the pricey side for me and I couldn't justify the price - at least not until I was sure it was something I wanted. 

 

All you need to make this is a half a CD case, packaging foam, scissors and hot glue. Simply cut the foam into 4 cubes and glue the flattest side of each onto each corner of the outside of the case.  Place onto a flat surface and trim the foam to just the right level and height to give you your preferred density of squish and to give a clear stamped impression.  Trial and error is involved I'm afraid!

 

 

It may not be the prettiest craft item,  but if you are anything like me and want to save a few pennies or try before you buy then this could be the answer for you too.  I don't have a very big acrylic block so I have always used half a CD case to stamp my larger images, and of course you can use the same principle on a larger acrylic item if you want an even bigger stamp press.  I made my stamp press from a thinner plastic CD case so it has a bit of bend to the plastic - I find that helps to get a clear stamped impression.  Also, CD cases are super clear so you can see where your stamping easily.

 

In the past I sometimes struggled to plot my image where I actually wanted it and I have even dropped it a few times - which is most annoying!  Since I made my stamp press I have not had any problems with my stamping - it is an easy to make tool that I encourage everyone to try out.

 

Thanks for reading and please share your findings.  Keep Crafting

 

Panda.



Getting ready for Easter!

With Easter just around the corner I have been preparing a few Easter cards for the family to keep in touch.  When I think of Easter, I think of pastel colours, Bunnies, Eggs, etc.  Nice, happy, and spring like fun.  So I wanted to reflect that in the cards I have created.

 

The first card I created I followed the pastel tones throughout the card.  The stamp set I have used is an old magazine freebie.

 

Starting with the background, I used a stencil I created with my Craft Robo (now Silhouette) and layered colours through it in diagonal stripes that the stencil depicted.  I used 3 colours of Memento inks (Summer Sky, Angel Pink and Dandelion) and blending foam to create the smooth transition of colour.  The focal image of the rabbit is stamped with London Fog Memento Ink, coloured using Spectrum Noir markers, cut out using a circle die, embossed and ink blended on top using the same blue and yellow as before.  The sentiment I stamped in Tuxedo Black, cut out using a pointed oval die, embossed, and blended over with yellow ink.

 

To finish the card I layered them on foam adhesive, added white ribbon below the sentiment and punched flowers below the bunny.  The flowers were coloured using a cotton bud and ink, and I used pencil crayon for the centres.  Glossy Accents was then used to add a final touch.

The second card follows a similar pattern however I have used pastel pink as my focal colour.  I started by stencilling flowers onto a background piece of card using Rose Bud Memento Ink  and Dandelion for the centres.  I cut the sentiment and image out together using the same circle die, but this time stamped both in Memento Tuxedo Black.  I think this makes a big difference to the finished look and I wish I had used black for my original image.  I left the image in the die and blended Summer Sky ink over to leave a small white border around the image.  I also used that ink on the card base to create a matching border.  To finish I used 3 punched flowers with rhinestones (of which I coloured yellow with a spectrum marker) and Glossy Accents on the focal image.

Thanks for reading, I hope that I have given you some Easter inspiration! Keep crafting!

 

Panda.

Hello

The start of something new. 

I have been crafting for many years now and through reading others blogs and watching others You Tube videos I feel the time has come to share some of my findings and techniques I have developed. 

I am a crafter whom loves to see what techniques I can replicate from what resources I have. This sometimes leads to interesting discoveries and impressive failures!  Nothing tried nothing gained.

Here's hoping my findings are of some use to others.

Thank you for reading.

Panda.