Saturday 28 June 2014

Inspiring Inkin Annual Catalogue 2014-2015 Launch Blog Hop!

Hello, and welcome!

If all things techno have gone to plan, you may have arrived from Karen's blog to check out my projects using brand new toys (I mean, tools) found in the brand new Annual Stampin' Up! 2014 catalogue!

Since the very first moment I perused that shiny new catalogue, I have been so eager to make and play and create wonderful projects to share with my new blog audience, and now finally I get to show you some of the things I've been working on. Don't worry though, I have LOTS more to show you!

I decided to use the brand new stampset 'Something for Baby', which is available from July 1st 2014! However, I wanted to show you that it can be used in different ways, as well as being the perfect stampset for all your baby centred project needs.

I call this one my disco card! I tend to leave my cards sentiment free, so can decide how to use it when the occasion arises!



I'm a big fan of keeping it simple stamper (aka KISS), that way those new to papercraft can easily recreate and then go on the embellish it further at a later date. Here's is a simple bookmark, it looks rather masculine to me - who would have thought it came from a baby stampset?!





Lastly, I thought I'd show you a little card I made for a poorly friend. It was a very quick make and given a bit more time, I'm sure one could make it look even more fabulous!




I hope you like what you have seen, and feel inspired to use your new stamps in different ways. Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget to visit Jess, the next lovely lady on our blog hop!

With love and luck

Nina xx

Friday 27 June 2014

Help, I'm not a celebrity and need a list of basic tools for card making!

Welcome to my very first blogpost, I am so excited to finally be here!

So, as this is my first time here how about I share some knowledge with you? When I was first inspired to try and build on my (very basic) card making skills, one of the hardest things I found was finding a list of tools every card maker should have; so I've compiled my list of tools I think should be on that list. Every papercrafter will have different ideas on what they think is 'essential', but I think this list is pretty much spot on for me:

  • Bone Folder: essential for creasing and reinforcing folds
  • Trimmer: for good clean cuts, that can be achieved quickly and accurately
  • Score Board: essential for box making, with cardstock or speciality paper
  • Cardstock: for card bases etc
  • Stampsets incl. sentiments: choose only ones that you absolutely love, where ideas on how to use them come to you freely. Don't forgot sentiments too, it's easy to think you won't need them, but so often a card can look like 'something's missing' without one
  • Basic black ink: black goes with everything, darling!
  • Scissors: essential for snipping out images etc
  • Liquid glue: um, for sticking - it also gives you an extra second or two to move things if not quite straight!
  • Embellishments: e.g. Rhinestones, ribbons, buttons

Here is a card I made using only what I've suggested -





Pretty cute, but missing something, huh? With this in mind I would add a few more bits to that list of basic tools:

  • Ink Pads in some of your favourite colours: who doesn't need more colour in our lives?!
  • Punches: these are fantastic time savers; also Stampin' Up! (SU) do matching stampsets and punches - known as bundles, when bought together (they also do bundles using framelit dies, instead of a punch, to be used in a big shot machine)
  • Dimensionals (or 3D foam pads): these are great for giving some of your project pieces a little height e.g. flowers etc.

So, with these extra bits, here is the finished card -





This pic shows how a dimensional works -





If you would like to recreate this card, here is a list of Stampin' Up! products used:

  • Whisper White cardstock (106549)
  • StazOn jet black Ink Pad (101406)
  • Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)
  • Petite Petals Bundle incl. stampset and punch (Clear mount 134822, or Wood mount 134821)
  • Perfectly Penned stampset (Clear mount 122892, or Wood mount 128703) RETIRING JUNE 2014
  • Strawberry Slush Ink Pad (131178)
Click HERE to go straight to my online Stampin' Up! store, peruse at your leisure, pick and choose your own goodies to play with; and please, do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nina x