Scrapbooking, card making, die cutting, stamping

What are the dos and don'ts of gel printing? It's all here along with gel printing resources, a downloadable guide and free videos!

Here are 3 card ideas to use up your leftover paper scraps. In this video I show you how to make each card along with some other helpful tips.

Welcome to my blog. Today I want to share a technique that is an oldie but goodie. The wax paper resist technique. It works amazing with distress inks. This tutorial will be featured on the Distress Ink Technique page on facebook. I am one of the admins and we take turns to post a tutorial on there every monday, the technique of the week :-) Well let me explain this particular technique. You will need an old iron to do this technique, or one you don't use for your fancy clothes ;-) This is what you need: an old iron, two pieces of card, a piece of wax paper and an embossing folder. Oh and an embossing machine obviously lol. I dry embossed the sheet of wax paper using an embossing folder and a piece of card to add more pressure. Here you see the pattern embossed in the wax paper. I cover the front and back with my pieces of card stock, and put this sandwich inbetween two sheets of cheap copy paper. You iron over the cheap copy paper to get the wax to melt onto the card stock. It goes very quickly. I put my iron on the highest setting and just move it over the sheets a few times. You can barely see it, but the wax print is on there! Trust me ha ha ha. See, I told you it was there. Here you see the difference between the embossed and the debossed side of the wax paper imprint. Left is the embossed side and on the right the debossed side. I inked over it with stormy sky distress ink and an ink blending tool. I turned them into two christmas cards with some embellishments and stamped sentiment. I stuck the card onto a card blank after I trimmed it to size and inked the edges with some walnut stain distress ink. I had this ATC laying around for ages, so I decided to use it as a card topper. Then stamped my sentiment in black and after that completely dried, I stamped it again but with embossing ink and heat embossed it in silver. On this card I stamped the sentiment in archival ink and after it dried I wrapped some baker's twine around the card stock befor I stuck it to the card blank. I added a little red jingle bell to give it a more festive look. I painted a wooden snowflake silver and adorned it to my card and it is done! Thank you so much for taking the time to have look and I hope you are going to give this technique a try :-) Have a great day, and keep your craft on ;-) Take care, Freddie Xox

Have you ever gotten a piece of large patterned paper that you just weren't sure what to do with? Here are a few things to try!

Create corner accent pieces on your cards using circle punches. It's a fun and simple ways to use circle shapes in your card making.

25 different clever and fun ideas to use craft punches in projects. Think outside the box and use craft punches in newand surprising ways!

How to print on fabric with just 2 materials you probably have in your house right now. Freezer paper and an inkjet printer. WARNING: totally addictive.

Have you ever really learned how to READ A TAPE MEASURE? I have broken it down for you and given you a visual so you don't have to "count the little lines" any more!

Welcome to the PDF download (via Google Drive) for my version of the inner part of the Colour Wheel in the 2024-2025 Stampin Up Catalogue. I'm so pleased to say that Stampin Up have given permission for me to share this. Instructions: Download the PDF from Google Drive and save to your computer Print off or copy the page from the catalogue that you will attach the inner circle to. This is page 132 of the catalogue. I would suggest that you download the digital version of the catalogue to print from however a photocopy may be fine to use too. Use Basic White Thick cardstock for this and the inner circle so that they are sturdy. Print the PDF at 120%, as this should fit the page in your catalogue correctly. You may want to play with this scaling a little to suit however this worked just fine for me on my HP printer. Cut out the circle and then use a scapel to cut away the black areas to create windows for you to see through. Use a split pin to join through the centre of both the larger and smaller circle. This is what your printed wheel should look like - you can keep it as an A4 like I have or have it cut into a circle like the one that was gifted to Demonstrators - the choice is all yours! The link is HERE I'm really hoping this actually works and that you will enjoy using this until such time as an official one is available for purchase. Please take the time to go back to my first YouTube video explaining colour theory to fully understand how to use this great tool. If you have any questions or need help with yours, please send me an email using the contact form on my blog. Whilst you are here, please leave some love on my blog and be sure to pop back again soon to see what else I've been up to. Happy Stamping, Rachael xx

52 different mixed media techniques to alter cards! Explore and experimant with different materials and make your own altered playing cards

I recently rediscovered the charm of little paper flexagons, known in the cardmaking world as never-ending or infinity cards. I find it fascinating to unfold each page, revealing the card maker’s vision beneath, until I magically end up back where I started. Infinity cards also make an ideal mixed-media substrate. I use them to make…

Learn how to make a simple bag with this simple tote bag tutorial. A great beginner sewing project.

Create marbleized Easter eggs everyone will love by following this step-by-step tutorial. You'll need blown-out eggs and a homemade dye mixture to make this Easter craft.

This post is in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul Newsletter article "Technique of the Week" This post is less of a technique and more about trying out the new Distress Oxide inks. I was skeptical in the beginning, but now I know I LOVE these new inks. Oxide inks are a hybrid of Pigment ink and Dye ink. Where Dye inks soak into your paper, Pigment inks sit on top and take longer to dry. The Oxides have the best of both of these worlds. They blend like a dream, and they stamp better as well. They also incorporate the best of the water-reactive properties of regular Distress ink. there are 12 colors currently available, and Ranger is overwhelmed with orders, so we have to get in line; but we WILL get them in! Right now we have 8 of the 12 colors for demo'ing at Art 'n Soul, and we will be happy to demo them for you. For my card, I first blended Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, and Broken China, adding a little Wilted Violet at the end. I sprayed the card, using the Tim Holtz spritzer bottle, which makes large and small droplets. You can almost do no wrong with these inks, whatever I have done looks good. However, I wanted to stamp and emboss with White Diamond embossing powder, and I decided that my inks were a little too light for the white to pop out properly. This panel is actually very pretty in real life, and it is at Art 'n Soul for you to see Starting over with new colors was no problem, because playing with these inks is just so much fun. For the second try, I started with Wilted Violet. I added Broken China (I LOVE the combo of these 2 colors), Cracked Pistachio, and Spiced Marmalade. Since the inks have pigment, they are so easy to blend If you compare the colors side by side to regular dye based Distress colors, they will look just a little different. This is because these Oxide colors with pigment sit on top of the paper, and the regular dye based ones soak in. I spritzed it to get the water spots, and decided it was still too pale. I made sure to dry the spots and went over the card with some Faded Jeans, Fired Brick, and intensified the colors in the Wilted Violet, Broken China, and Cracked Pistachio. I love how rich the colors are This time I thought the colors were dark enough, and so I added more droplets with the spritzer, and dried the card thoroughly. I stamped my image and sentiment with Versamark ink and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder by JudiKins. I added a little of the Wilted Violet to the center of the largest flower in the stamp. I hope you'll give these new inks a try. I think you'll find them as fun to work with as I did. As you know, Art 'n Soul is Magenta's Retailer of the Year for the seventh year in a row, and this allows some privileges. The reason I mention this is because we have advance viewing of the new Magenta Spring Collection, and one of the stamps for Spring is a new one by yours truly, a Zen Bouquet of flowers, shown here on my card. I also have several sentiments in the collection, including this one. Since I received my stamps just yesterday, I decided to give you all a sneak peek of two of my new stamps on the post this week. These are available for pre-order at Art 'n Soul now, along with the entire 2017 Spring Collection. Please come by and see our sneak peek catalog and place your order. You can be among the first in the world to receive the beautiful new Magenta stamps! Magenta Products Used: (If you are local, please look for products at Art 'n Soul. We are taking orders for the new Spring collection now. If you are not local and wish to find Magenta products, you can visit the Magenta online store here. The new collection will be in the online store very soon). 44.024.Q Zen Bouquet 07.968.H You are Amazing Other Products Used: Distress Oxide inks: Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Broken China, Wilted Violet,Cracked Pistachio, and Faded Jeans Versamark ink White Diamond embossing powder by JudiKins

The chalkboard stamping style has been popular for awhile, it’s usual done with white embossing powder on black cardstock but here’s a clever twist on that idea, actually stamping with …

If you're new to watercolor, you may find it helpful to follow these step-by-step easy watercolor tutorials for beginners.

We made this card at my good friend Marguerite's workshop on Saturday. She asked that we make a wedding card so this is what I came up with. I like the way there is just a bit of color (Melon Mambo) peeking behind the white. What an easy way to add the bride's wedding color to your card! I've done a different version in the past that was a bit more complicated. I like to keep my workshop cards easy...

How to sew knit neckband and knit binding - 3 options to finish your knit neckline, including photo tutorial and video tutorial

If you love lettering but are new to experimenting with different styles, I have good news for you! Joanne Sharpe has a brand new Lettering Lesson out!

Michelle Wooderson challenges you to a 31-day painting commitment. This art project is easier — and smaller — than you think.

12 easy techniques to use Distress Inks on craft or paper projects like art journal pages, cards and scrapbook lyouts

You love to create, but... You long for time to do the things you love like quilting, sewing and crafting, but can't seem to squeeze in a moment here or there to start a

Washi tapes are all the rage, and who doesn’t love them! But they are also quite expensive, as are many of the other decorative ta...

Are you planning on creating LOTS of handmade cards? You'll need these 10 steps and tips for creating cards in bulk / batches to optimize your efficiency.

Gel Printing Cards for Valentines. Learn how easy it is to make your own unique, greeting cards with a Gel Plate. Printmaking made easy!

There is something about marbled surfaces that looks so chic—no wonder the marbling trend is huge lately. DIY-ers are getting crazy marbling everything they can think of. If you want to try marbling but are still skeptical, we encourage you to look at these fantastic tutorials for making marbled paper.…

52 different mixed media techniques to alter cards! Explore and experimant with different materials and make your own altered playing cards

The ultimate guide to gel printing and the basics of gel printing you need to know - what materials you need and how to make gel prints

What makes gel printing so much fun? Is it the magical way the layers build up? Is it the excitement of seeing what patterns stuff from around the house can make? Is it that no two prints are exactly alike? Yes to all of those and so many many more reasons! I’ve put together a free […]

Ideas for card messages for seniors and the elderly for Grandparents Day, Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Christmas, or cheerful messages for any day of the year.

I am busily putting the finishing touches on Christmas presents, including one quilt that needs a label before it can be given away. I thought I would share how I make my quilt labels. This is not …