Wednesday 29 February 2012

Sneak Peak Part 2

As promised in my previous post, here are some more sneak peeks at my upcoming cardmaking class.

This time, I did not focus on any theme in particular, instead just created cards, free and easy. However, I have been thinking of pulling them together as a set by using the same papers.

As mentioned before, these are just prototypes and subject to change.




In my next post, hopefully I will have the complete set out and ready to be launched!
Thanks for looking!

Friday 24 February 2012

Sneak Peek

Now that the Xmas and the Valentine seasons have come and gone, more general cards have been showcased. The spring / flower theme is everywhere and these serve as great inspiration for all-occasion cards.

There has been some demand for cardmaking classes as people start to see the value that they get in attending these classes. Not only do they get to have fun while crafting with like-minded people, sharing ideas and experiences; they also get great ideas and layouts that they can use for making their own cards. We all know that ideas multiply so there is just more of them going around. And of course, they get to go home with a set of beautiful cards, ready to be sent out.

I got some ideas for some cards lately that I would probably incorporate them into my new class. Please note that these are just prototypes and subject to change.




Look out for more sneak peeks in my next post.

I'm targetting to launch this class sometime in March 2012.

Thanks for viewing!

Thursday 16 February 2012

It's Something I am Passionate About & Lily Pad Feb CCC

Oh I love making cards! I get so much joy and satisfaction after I manage to come up with a good looking card. I love the whole process - coming up with the layout, choosing papers, coordinating colors, the sentiments, the embellishments.  And of course, the final product.
And after that, I cant wait to make more!
If you never had a hobby that you are passionate about, I don't expect you to understand.
But the past few months have been a whirlwind for me. My crafting universe was filled only with events and upcoming classes. I had spent weeks conceiving new classes and doing up samples. And after the classes have been launched, I spent time preparing the materials for the classes. Dont get me wrong, I am very thankful I have these classes. Especially when I get to share (and infect) others with my passion for this craft :)
Well, on Sunday I found myself with some free time. What a rare and wonderful thing that is! So I surfed through my favourite blogs and - aaarrgghhh! I had missed the launch of the new Lily Pad February CCC! Fortunately, the deadline is 15 Feb, so I had just about 3 days to come up with a card and submit it.
After looking at the themes for this month's CCC, I decided on a BIRD card. I also tried to follow the color palette of Fawn, Chestnut and Blush.
Here is the card I came up with:

I am in love with Stampendous! birds. This one is CRS5029 Jumbo Songbird. I used VersaMagic to ink the stamp. The sentiment is from Stampendous! also - SSC1116 Friendship Assortment.
Ahhhhh.... I felt so good after completing this card! I hope to be able to squeeze some time this weekend to make a couple more cards. I have so many ideas to try, I almost wish I do not need to sleep. Either that or there should be more than 24 hours in a day!

Thanks for visiting & have a good day ahead!

Monday 13 February 2012

Lovey Dovey Cards

So its V Day! I had actually made a bunch of cards for V day, based on the new 2012 Hero Arts stamps. We had actually made them into a class, and I had been running them for over a month now. But I kept forgetting to post them up.
All the stamps are from Hero Arts and all the pattern papers from DCWV "Be Mine" stack.
So without further ado, let's take a look at them...
  
This card has non-traditional V colours. I went with teal/aqua/pool and bright orange (Hero Hues' Soft Apricot). I stamped the hearts from the All Year Round set, over the pattern paper, added a couple of ribbons, paper string and layered the hearts on the tag. It turned out bright and cheery. And good for all occasions!

I went for a softer look for the next card. In my mind it looks a bit baby-ish. Soft cotton lace, over soft pink and teal colours. The print of words on the pink pattern paper is from the Ampersand set, stamped with Hero Hues' Soft Blossom.

But what V card set would be complete without red and pinks? Cutting squares of pattern paper and sticking them to a layer of red paper, embellished with lace, organza ribbons, strings of pearls and a paper die-cut butterfly (Lifestyle Crafts). It is a terribly easy card, with minimal stamping (sentiment). A testimony to the power of embellishments, dont you agree?
This card and the next 2, are more musculine. Although I never intended that while creating them, the colours just came together while choosing the pattern paper. This layout was inspired by another card (though I cannot remember who was the artist - so sorry!). The image circling the clock face is actually a key, taken from the Truly Grateful set. Black elements add visual impact and kept this from being a "soft" card.

I love making distress/collage looking backgrounds. Altough I will admit they are not as distressed as some out there. Here is a simple example of the style I have. Script wordings with some added stamping to keep the background interesting. Although the London Background stamp with the Big Ben image was stamped in Hero Hues' Soft Brown, it manages to stand out subtly in the background. Circular images form Untitled Postmarks cling stamp set, popped up over criss-crossing paper strings, completes the card.

And the final card I'm showing today is the one that won me the Hero Arts Fresh Face title for January 2012. It was totally unexpected as I found the card simple. Pattern paper, decorative border, repeated image of the hotair ballon from Past Times cling set and a sentiment to wrap it up. I kept the colours blue tone on tone, and introduced black into the design to give it impact. The hotair ballon image was stamped with Versamark Blue Lagoon ink.

There they are - 6 V day cards!
Thanks for visiting and have a great V day with your loved ones!