Cardmaking

I intend to practise stamping with different inks, on different backgrounds. Mistakes will also appear here as it is my journal of how I am doing! Newer trials and cards will appear at the top of this page.

Having a practise at a collar card:

I quite like the style but is is difficult to emboss on if folder. I might try cutting the excess bits of to not only see what it looks like but it would then fit in a regular envelope!

Visiting a friend the other day, I haven't seen her for an age, I decided to make her an Autumn postcard:
I made the mistake of putting too much embossing powder on so after colouring the background and buffing the paint off the embossed areas, I decided to overprint in black. This helped quite a bit. Unfortunately I don't have a black dye ink pad, only pigment and after 3 days, the black still wasn't dry. Lots of pressing on blotting paper to take the excess away.

My dewdrop ink pads are awful, just too dry when they arrived, so I think I shall have to buy something else.


A gatefold card - the front:
The reverse of the folder created an indented mirror image on the back, quite nice:
Trialling snowflakes - on the left clear embossing, on the right white embossing with a larger flake. I don't like the look of either and think it would have worked better with a watermark:
Back to normal stamping and trialling my Aqualbrush pen, unfortunately on cheapo cardstock which bled and buckled:
I adore this stamp of the puppy - so cute.

I currently don't have any vellum cardstock but plan to remedy that soon! I tried stamping on tracing paper and write on acetate. The red stamps are dye based ink pads and the black pigment ink pads. First picture immediately after printing:
The picture below, after 10 minutes. The dye ink stamps are dry but the black pigment ink evening after drying it with my low set heat gun, smudged - oh dear:
 On the write on acetate, it really needed a good ink pad such as Stazon but I don't have any. Again, red is with dye ink and black Versafine Clair pigment ink. The dye stamp bled straight away, but the black looked good:
After heat setting carefully (as it is not heat acetate) both smudged when touched!
This experiment showed my that I need vellum cardstock and may or may not need to emboss an image.Yes I do and yes I did, it worked.

Cosmic Shimmer Opal Paint trials. For this first try on kraft card, I coloured the card in one colour, then embossed:
This second trial I used three different paints, embossing afterwards - I like this better:
I used White Hero Arts pigment ink with a circular stencil to create a moon:
Finally, white ink was splattered on the card and a greeting in white ink added:
Creating another similar card using masks. This in a way was more difficult as I ended up with lines that I found difficult to buff out. I also put more colour on the trees to help them stand out:
After creating a two tone background, I stamped on top with black pigment ink - that worked fine. I then used embossing ink and gold embossing powder - worked fine. Just using embossing ink, towards the bottom, showed up but didn't have any effect as such:
I meant to trial embossing ink followed by the paints to see if a resist pattern showed. Another day another trial!


The greeting on this one is upside down and back to front:
I rather like the plain snowflakes, created using an embossing ink pad but no powder.

Some trials with using just an embossing folder:
On cheap thin red card:
I finally managed to track down some vellum but am not sure I will enjoy working with it. I was able to colour it in using both watercolour pens and cosmic shimmer paints. Putting it through my embossing machine tore it to shreds despite a spare piece of card to try and protect it. I was finally able to produce this but am not too sure about it:

A new card that I am happy with to be sent out nearer the time:
And a birthday card to someone I love:
Inside:


Here are my first few attempts. A Springer Spaniel puppy! I just adore this stamp, but I am probably biased. On the right, it has been stamped on kraft card with a black pigment ink. On the left, I was cleaning the stamp onto white paper. It is slightly smudged as it was just a clean off. Two different looks due to the card colour. I like both:


Below, on just the kraft card, I have customised the picture a little. I think this would be good to do for anyone who has a springer, if you have a picture of them. Brown watercolour pens have been used in the eyes and patches of fur, the collar has been coloured in red:
A simple vase of flowers. The green cheap card bled like crazy and the colour was produced from using a Fantastix pen on my dye dew drop ink pads. It didn't do too well as I am not sure they weren't a bit dry so the pads have been stored upside down. I am not keen on these Stix but realise they need to be used with more liquid.

Again, black pigment ink was used for the image but this time, was embossed with clear powder:

The image on the kraft card was coloured using some cheapo watercolour brush pens from Lidl (£3.99). I am actually impressed with them but colouring in, for the moment, isn't what I am too interested in doing.

Christmas cards for 2020:


14 comments:

  1. I love this cardmaking stamp and reading about your stamping/embossing efforts. Stamping is all very new to me and, as said before, I do need lots of practise at it. I have one embossing plate for my die cut machine, have only tested it once and like the effect of it so will be doing more of that in the future. I like your fir trees embossed underneath the upside down greetings card.

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    1. I have just sent for Cosmic Shimmer Opal polishes for my embossing trials. I really like the look of them as you can create lovely backgrounds.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you but I hope to get a lot better.

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  3. I never knew there were so many different types of ink pads! I thought they were all the same....you learn something new every day.

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    1. After watching some more videos, it seems embossing ink pad and embossing powders give the best results. At least
      I have those.

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  4. Crafting is a whole new world and vocabulary isn't it? I haven't done any crafting for a while but hope to start soon. I do still save bits and pieces I find in packaging etc thinking that would look good made into a label etc.

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    1. True about saving bits and bobs. I saved a load of pretty ribbons from presents last Christmas.

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  5. I love the Let it Snow card with the white ink splatters for snow falling. This cardmaking lark is such fun isn't it? And I'm nowhere near as adventurous (or skilled!) as you.

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    1. Thank you. Onwards and upwards for the pair of us.

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