Product review..

I know sometimes that seeing things on the internet is never the same as in real life...I have fallen in love with things online...bought them and was disappointed when I received them ....they were either not big enough, too small or just not what i thought they would be.

So every now and then on this blog i am going to show you a product that we have in the shop...run through it with you, tell you the size, colours etc etc....just to give you more of an idea of what you are buying.

Okay so onto our first product. some new products that are going up in the shop are some new Chipboard from Tando Creative...

They caught my eye because of one thing...of how cheap they are...seriously cheap  none of the packs i am going to show you are over £3.50....and they didn't skimp on the amount you get in each package because of that either...first up i am going to show you the banner set.
I have placed them on a black sheet of cardstock to make it stand out more..

As you can see you get 4 banners in a pack...

The sizes are ....

they are about 12 cm across..and the triangle from the top to the top is about 3 cm in length...

as you can see in this next photo they are fairly thin...just under 2mm in width....

 How to decorate them...there are lots of different ways to do that...painting, misting, inking...or cover with pattern paper. The last one is the one i love...and it is easy to do...i will show you how as it is really easy.

1. Choose your paper....

2. turn it over so you can see the back of the paper...this is the part that you will put the glue and the banner on to.

3. I use a wet glue to do this, but you can use any type really.

4. Add the glue to the part of the chipboard you want to glue...

5. Turn the chipboard  over and adhere it to the pattern paper.

6.leave to dry for a min...

7. Using a pair of scissors trim the pattern paper as close to the chipboard as you can get it.

8. The using a file file the edges...

Here is the end result...

I also took some photos and measurements of the others in the same line....

first up are the butterflies ( love)...there are lots of different sizes in the packets...but i grabbed a few of them to show you the measurements.

 there are lots in the packet.

Next onto some clouds! i have measured these from the widest point on each cloud.

When these are up in the shop, i will post a link here for you...but keep an eye on the new products section on the website as there are new things going up on a daily basis at the moment.

Coming up over April here on the blog we have some more arty, stamps and ink from Carol...some beautiful pages from Lisa...an amazing sketch from Amanda...i had to play along this month with the page sketch...gorgeous! During the month of April we also have a colour combination competition and the April kit...would you like a peek?

Also we will be hosting our Easter Egg hunt again this year...so check back soon!

A quick page for you....

I have been slowly making pages for the newly painted walls in the shop....this is one that i made the other day....really quick and really concentrates on the photos of my son and sister ( who i am sure would be horrified to know that everyone can see her looking like this lol!!!)

The background paper is from the new Minds Eye collection.

the map paper is this one from October Afternoon...

a quick and easy page...with lots of photos...a win win in my book!!!!

Distress ink project

After our basic introduction into the uses of distress inks, today I am going to show you how to make this:-

These are the basic products you will need:-

 

 and some stamps, cardstocks and embellishments.

Take a Ranger tag, or die cut tag, and colour using a distress ink technique of your choice.  I used the di's on the craft mat and spritzed with water, the top of my tag didn't have any colour on it, so using the cut and dry foam I added colour.

Take a distressing tool and distress the edges of the tag, using the cut and dry foam again run a dark colour (I've used vintage photo) along the edges to add definition.  Using a black marker pen, doodle lines around the edges of the tag...

The stamp sets I've used are both available from the shop.  Using a large background stamp, stamp the base of the tag.  set aside to dry.
Colour a strip of card using DI's and cut using the rosettes die, and make up, I've used a wooden flower coloured again with Di's to add to the centre with a piece of bling.
The flowers are white and sold by the metre and are by maya road - I've used cut and dry to colour them, spritzed them with water and then carefully dried them with my heat tool, these have been "topped and bottomed" by bling and pearls.
The centre saying:- colour a piece of cardstock by using the blending tool or cut and dry, here I have used some scrapbooking paper with text on, ink up a phrase stamp and stamp onto your inked piece, cut out and edge with a darker DI.
Some stick pins have been added to the rosette.
Ribbon and fibres have been inter-twinned with some Tim Holtz ideology and my own beaded pins to finish off the tag.

I hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial - I'd love to see if you create anything using any of these techniques or make a tag along similar lines.

Lets start at the beginning...

* the march kit was sold out... We have added a few more *
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As we become more "experienced" crafters, we forget that not everyone knows about the products we take for granted, they don't know what matting and layering is or the different types of inks and stamps and glues...all those things we just do, or talk about and take for granted can seem really daunting to those now starting out.  Not only that, as we take things for granted, and move forward with our crafting, we sometimes forget the basics and just how versatile the product is.

So, with that in mind, I'm going back a few years to a product that most of us have, and perhaps there are some out there that haven't heard of it, or just forgotten what basics we can do with it...

So, what am I talking about of course its "DISTRESS INKS"  by Ranger..

Now these ink pads come in a wide pallette of colours and now there are various other products in the "distress" line...which we will cover much later on... here I'm going to cover just a few things we can do...and then later on in the week I'll detail a simple project that everyone can have a go at.

So, distress inks what are they?
Distress inks are water based dye inks which are acid free and fade resistant, so great not only for altered art projects, but, scrapbooking too.

Techniques used to apply the ink:-
Direct to page - where you can swipe the pad across your page, to add a bit of colour or to colourize an item, say a piece of chipboard.  Sprinkle water onto the ink and see it wick...
Using a blending tool - this is the best way to apply your inks to a project or create a background.  Use a different felt pad per colour to avoid cross contamination on your project, these pads can be washed and reused. Bringing the tool from your mat onto your tag in a circular motion adding colour as you go - keep the pad flush with your paper.  Lines can easily appear if you don't keep the tool flush with the paper.

Cut and dry foam - this versatile product, can be cut into neat little cubes and used to add colour.  The colour goes on much paler than with the blending tool and can tend to "line" on your paper.

As with all forms of crafting the tools we use are just as essential as the quality of the product we use - for best results with your distress inks and other distress lines, spray inks and paints, a non stick craft mat is essential.  These mats are also heat resistant and so can also be used for your heat embossing.

 (these are some of the items we will be using on our project)

Another way of using distress inks is using your non stick craft mat, swipe your distress ink across the mat and spritz with water, watch the ink bubble up and then drag your paper thro' the ink, drying off at each swipe, this will ensure that the colour intensifies rather than mudding....

The best thing to do with your distress inks is to play and enjoy.....

Next time we will be using the techniques mentioned to create a project....

Carol

March kit...a card

Hi all...today i am showing you my final project that i made using this kit....i still have lots left over though!

and a close up...

thanks for tuning in this week...you can find the kit here! If it is sold out, let me know and we will see what we can do...my email wendy@bbbweb.com  We will have another one for you next month!

March kit ...a double page

Morning all!

Today i am showing you the double page that i made with the March kit...

and here are some close ups...

You can buy this kit here! See you in a few days for my final project.

March kit...Page one...

Posting this post a bit earlier than planned to let you all know that the shop is finally re opening!!!!!!!!!! It re opens of Friday...so if you fancy popping down to see all the new goodies then please do, we will be happy to see you!

Today i am showing you my first page that i did with this kit...

Here is the first page that i did with it...

and some close ups....

I wanted to share with you how i made a few things on this page....

First off the lettering..... i used the same stickers... but changed them....and here's how..

First off i took some of the letter stickers and adhered them into the word that i wanted to spell...onto the colour cardstock that i wanted use..on my page i used a small section of the Prima pattern paper...but for this i used white cardstock...

I then used a black pen to outline them...

and took all the stickers off...and started to colour them in...

and then cut it out...

I used a Fiskars punch to punch out the centre of the 'o'

and then we are done!

 Next up...i made a paper flower...

I made this flower using a punch as well...this one...


It was really easy...i punched out lots of them using different pattern papers...

I then punched out a circle out of spare card stock...

and then adhered them on...

I then covered up the centre with a sticker...perfect way to make a flower!
i will be back in a few days to show you a card made using this kit!