Here's the latest couple of cards I've made:-
They're quite simple ones, but I choose toppers and backing card and stickers that are bright and colourful, so Mum can see them better.
I'm getting on better with the cheap (and thus lightweight) cardstock I bought now, having found better ways of sticking things on the front. I was mainly using glue before, which just made the cards warp and bend, now I use double sided tape for large toppers. I do use large toppers and coloured card on all the fronts now, it gives stability to the cheap cardstock. Inside, I use inserts or patterned paperstock, to make the back of the card firmer. Having bought 2 packs of cheap cardstock, I'm not going to throw it away! I'm learning all the time, and it's such fun!
Husband bought me a set of stamps yesterday, a wooden handle with a magnetic base, along with about 20 small magnet-backed square tile stamps with various pictures and symbols on them. The pack came with 2 small ink pads, one black and one red....the black one is fine but the red one was dry! Never mind, I guess that's why it was such a good price, and I do have several other ink pads anyway. I've been practising my stamping techniques, getting better all the time.
I'm so glad I started this hobby, I love it.
Welcome to my first followers on this new blog, and thank you for the encouraging comments and suggestions. All helpful suggestions welcome!
I've decided to make and send my Mum a couple of cards a week....the few I've sent so far she really likes, and I can give her a little bit of our news each time.
Here's the one I sent yesterday:-
and two I've made this morning:-
Mum can't see very well, she's almost blind in one eye and has limited sight in the other, so sis or bro will have to read the cards out to her. She's able to see the front of the cards with her magnifying glass though. I get such a lot of pleasure out of making them.
A few weeks back I found a video about floral cardmaking in a charity shop, it only cost £1. Well, it turned out to be a promotional and instructional video for a product called FlowerSoft, I expect lots of you crafters have heard of it. I was intrigued by it, I love the look of the little sprays of flowers you can make, and you can also use it for sprinkling onto cards to make snow or add definition to flowers and trees, e.g.
I sent off for a couple of packets of the powder - they weren't the real deal, but a cheaper alternative found online, just to try it out, as it's a bit expensive. I also got some florists wire and a bottle of extra-strong PVA clear-drying glue, and had a go at making some little sprays of flowers. It didn't turn out exactly like the video, but is ok for a first attempt and with practise I'm sure will be fine. It's another card skill and design to add to my ever-growing repertoire. When I've had some more practise, I'll put some photos on.
Thank you all very much for the lovely comments. I seem to have discovered a talent I didn't know I had - I would never previously have said I was at all artistic - I can cook and crochet, but that was about it. My mother used to paint, my sister is incredibly good at sewing and making or repurposing things for the home, I've always said they're the ones with the artistic talents.
I have no problem at all thinking up ideas for cards - an idea just seems to pop into my head....quite often in the middle of the night! I've always had a good eye for colour and just sort of know what designs, patterns and colours would look good together on a card. I've, very fortunately as it turns out, saved all the cards we've been given over the last few years, so have a couple of shoe boxes and a large carrier bag full of them. I use bits of these received cards a lot when making my own cards, as I'm sure lots of other cardmakers do. I also have several pads of topper papers, plenty of embellishments such as coloured stones, paper flowers, butterflies, felt shapes etc, and lots of sheets of gold, silver or bronze coloured letters. And of course several packs of different sized card stock and envelopes.
So what have I learnt in the few months I've been doing this hobby?
Well, for a start, don't rush out and buy up everything the craft shop sells. Not that I did or spent loads, but I've certainly bought things in the craft shops that turned out to be not strictly necessary or even that useful for the type of cards I'm making. I was given a lot of stuff, as mentioned in my last post, and I know I have stuff that I won't need and will pay it forward in due course and offer my surplus or unwanted things to whoever wants them. I've found it's easy to pick up various craft bits very cheaply from charity shops and car boots - even the major craft shops sell off bits cheap in sales. And places like Wilkos and The Works have cheap craft things....eg, I got a pack of 80 sheets of tissue paper and a pack of 20 coloured pipe cleaners (for making flowers) for a pound each in The Works.
For sticking things on cards I use several different things - PVA glue, Pritt sticks, glue dots, a glue pen, little sticky pads, a glue stripe dispenser that looks like a Sellotape dispenser and, just recently, narrow double sided tape. I've found I am very messy with glue and the glue dots are next to useless as they tend to roll themselves up into balls and stick stubbornly to the tweezers. Glue and the Pritt sticks tend to make the cards warp if I use too much or on a large area - but that's partly because the card stock may be too thin.
So that's another thing learnt - it's not worth buying cheap card stock, it's generally cheap because it's thin. And if it's thin, then it warps and things (toppers, writing etc) show through to the other side.
Ink stamping - I have loads of stamps, Hazel and Ann both sent me a lot, and I've bought quite a few when I saw them at amazingly cheap prices. I have ink pads in several different colours, I also bought a set of acrylic blocks to mount the stamps on. I love the idea (and look) of stamping, but oh boy do I need LOTS of practise at it! I'm so messy with it! I've dropped an ink pad which (of course) landed upside down on the card I was making, I'm always managing to rest my hand or arm on an open ink pad and then smearing it everywhere. When I'm stamping, I do of course test it out on scrap paper first.....I'm either too heavy-handed with the pressing, meaning the image comes out as a big blob, or too scared of being heavy-handed and do it so lightly the image is barely visible. As I said, lots more practise needed. But it's fun, I love it!
Welcome to my new cardmaking blog....now I've finally had the time to set it up, and after some initial troubles trying to get the header picture to load. I tried a few and they were all too big or not positioned right, and I couldn't remember or work out how to resize or crop them. Typical blonde stuff....doesn't bode well for a blog that should ideally contain lots of pictures! 😂😒
The engagement card pictured above is one of the first cards I made, it was well received, thankfully.
I'd first of all like to say thank you to Hazel, Cherie, Marlene J and Ann for being so kind as to send me lots of cardmaking supplies, so thoughtful of you all. And to the rest of you lovely cardmaking ladies, for all the advice, tips and encouragement, thanks to all of you.
I haven't remembered to take photos of every card I've made, although will endeavour to do it from now on. Here's a few photos that I have taken, though:-
This was the card I made for my nephew's wedding, it's my favourite card so far. I made the tissue paper flowers on the front, tied them with a gold bow (I changed the bow for a different ribbon eventually) and stuck them on the front of the card. Which then meant that the card wouldn't fit in an envelope, so I made a little bag out of gold organza material:-
The little present I wrapped in the same organza and made a gift tag from the same design paper I'd used on the card front.
I also decorated the back and the inside of the card:-
I made this next card for our friends to say thanks for looking after Betty last week:-
I spent an afternoon recently making some quick basic birthday, thanks and get well cards, to be personalised as and when they're needed. Here's 3 of them, I made 6 altogether:-
I think that's enough for now!
