Category Archives: Beginner Guide

Quick & Easy: Make a Thanksgiving Card

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Beginner Guide: Make a Thanksgiving Card

What are you thankful for? Family? Friends? Everything?! We created a quick and easy beginner lesson for those who want to express gratitude. See how we used the same stamp to create a repeating pattern for this a simple Thanksgiving card.


VersaFine Clair in Pinecone
VersaFine Clair in Nocturne

VersaFine Clair in Shady Lane
VersaFine Clair in Summertime

Acrylic Block by Stampin’ Up
Waffle Flower Stamp Set

Stampin Up Cardstock

Tear It Tape

Directions

Select an array of ink colors that represent fall. Here I choose VersaFine Clair in Nocturne, Summertime, Shady Lane, and Pinecone. Next, select a stamp set with a phrase or word that has a nice boxy horizontal shape. I enjoyed using the word “Thankful” with an underline from Waffle Flower’s stamp set called Give Thanks. This particular set is a great investment because of all the other projects that you can create with it such as place holders at a dinner table.

Adhere your stamp to the acrylic block and begin stamping in each color being sure to thoroughly clean the stamp before moving on to the next color. The great thing about using clear acrylic stamps is that you can see exactly where you are stamping. If you have a hard time stamping in a straight line then you can lightly mark the card with a pencil as a guide.

Once all your colors are stamped, finish the card by unscrewing the spray nozzle of Fireworks Shimmery Craft Spray in New Sprout and lightly tap the nozzle over the card panel. This should decorate the area with shimmery blots of light green and gold ink. Fireworks is a spray ink. If you use the spray nozzle it will coat the entire panel. Since I only wanted a light touch I decided not to use the spray feature. Hand tear the top and bottom of the white card stock and use Tear It Tape to mount the card panel onto a matching card base. I choose a black card base (brown or green would work great too).

Call for Imagine Design Team for 2020

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Imagine is proud to announce its call for Imagine’s Design Team for 2020! We are looking to change things up this year and are looking for artists and designers who can inspire the next generation of beginning crafters with amazing projects using Imagine and Tsukineko products.

We are looking for 5 energetic video artists to fill two different roles for 2020:

3 Beginner Crafters Project/Tutorial Artists who will submit 2 edited videos per month featuring a quick and easy project and/or technique intended for the beginning level crafter. We intend these projects to look simple, clean and easy to complete in 3-4 steps. See our Blog for an example.

2 Intermediate to Advanced Technique Artists who will submit 2 edited videos per month featuring a crafting technique or how-to project intended for all crafters. We intend these projects to look simple, clean and able to complete in 5-8 steps.

Basic requirements:

  • Commitment of one year — January 1st, 2020 – December 31st, 2020.
  • Ability to professionally photograph, film, edit and submit high-res JPG images and video.
  • Submit clearly written and detailed descriptions in English for each project, including a list of supplies.
  • Socially active online with an established blog and Facebook or Instagram presence.
  • Not currently employed and/or affiliated with competing manufacturers including as a design team member, guest designer, etc.

Perks:

  • Exposure of your work 
  • Generous supply of Imagine and Tsukineko products
  • Opportunities to grow your stash with the product from Imagine’s preferred partners.
  • Links back to your blog or website

Show Us Your Artwork!

Show us just how creative you are! Make a project using Imagine or Tsukineko products. We are looking for clean and simple papercrafting or art projects that reflect a modern aesthetic.

Submission Process for Round 1

Send your submission to marketing@imaginecrafts.com with the subject line of “DesignTeam Round 1 <your name>”. Your email must include: which role you are applying, name, mailing address, phone number, email address, your personal blog and/or website address, and two links to video content of your work, a 700px wide jpg of your original artwork. Please name your photograph “DesignTeam_<your name>_2020.JPG” 

Round 1 submissions are due by 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, November 7th. Those artists who will be continuing on to the next round will be contacted by Wednesday, November 13th with further instructions.

Quick & Easy: Create a Simple and Beautiful Collage on a Wooden Leaf

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by Lori Warren

New to collage and mixed media?  Then this project is for you! Create a simple and beautiful collage on a wood leaf that can be used in card making and home décor projects.


StazOn Pigment
in Piano Black

Sheer Shimmer Stix in Gold

Tissue Paper

Stamp Set

StazOn Cleaner

Creative Medium

Wooden Leaves

Flat Paint Brush

Directions

Separate the top layer of a patterned paper napkin and tear it into large sections. The thin tissue paper is perfect for this project.

Using a flat paint brush, adhere the torn napkin pieces to wood leaf with Creative Artist Medium in Clear. Creative Medium is a light acrylic paste and can perform a lot like Modge Podge paste for this collage. What makes Creative Medium different than Mod Podge is that it is thick enough to form a stiff structure as well. So if you are using Creative Medium with a stencil then the shapes of the stencil will maintain their shape. Paint the Creative Medium layer on the wood shape first. Then lay the tissue paper down and apply another layer on top of the paper. Allow drying.

Stamp a fall theme saying or sentiment onto the leaves with StazOn Pigment in Piano Black. Use the StazOn stamp cleaner to clean your stamps once you are finished. Since the surface has the Creative Medium layer StazOn is the best choice here. Other ink brands might rub off or smear.

Apply Gold Sheer Shimmer Stix to edges of the leaf. The Shimmer Stix is a dauber top applicator and needs to be shaken well before use. The liquid shimmer should apply much like a marker. Test on a separate piece of paper before applying.

Repeat the process with different leaf-shaped.

Quick & Easy: Easy Watercolor Technique

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by Jowilna Nolte

I love cool watercolor effects achieved by artists in making cards and stamping. With a few stamps and a good water brush, it is easy to make a beautiful card. But the real magic happened when I figured out I can use something as simple as a plastic packet or an acrylic block with inks I owned to create those looks I so love. Take a look at how easy it is…


Memento DewDrop in Grape Jelly
VersaFine Clair in Nocturne

Acrylic Block by Stampin’ Up
Waffle Flower Stamp Set

Stampin Up Cardstock

  

 

Directions

Dab Memento Dew Drop inkpad onto a piece of plastic. I used Grape Jelly (purple). Mist the ink with water until the color starts to pool. Lift the packet carefully, flip it over and stamp the ink onto the cardstock.

Stamp the ink onto the front of the folded card and leave to dry naturally. Do not put the packet down flat, but rather keep it curled up with both hands and manipulate and stamp the ink where you want to.

Leave the ink to dry on the background and then add your stamped flower and the “Happy Birthday” sentiment. VersaFine Clair is a great stamping ink and layers nicely over the Memento. This quick and easy card design is complete!

Quick & Easy: Stamp & Drawing Technique

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by Roni Johnson

Sometimes when you’re just starting out stamping you don’t want to have to purchase a bunch of supplies when you’re not sure if you’ll like it or not. Well today I have a really fun and easy technique that will add some spice to your cards and all you need besides stamps, ink, and paper is a pen and a ruler and you don’t even really need a ruler – it can be any straight edge.

What are we going to be doing with the pen…making doodles! It’s really easy and I’ll bet you’ve been practicing this for years without even realizing it. Let’s go!

Memento Marker in Tuxedo Black
VersaFine Clair in Nocturne

Acrylic Block by Stampin’ Up

Imagine Craft Mat

Unity – Naturally Beautiful

Stampin Up Cardstock

Directions

Place the “orange blossum” stamp onto an acrylic block (you can skip this if you have wood mounted stamp). Pounce VersaFine Clair in Nocturne over the stamp. Press the inked stamp onto the paper.

Now for the doodles…we’re going to start out with a really basic line doodle frame. First determine where you want your border. I went with ¼” for this example. So line up your ruler (I find that clear rulers are easier to work with) and make a dot at the ¼” mark in all 4 corners with a pencil.

Now you’re going to take a marker, in this case, I’m using the Tuxedo Black Memento Dual Tip Marker to doodle with. It has 2 tips – a brush type marker tip and the other end is like a pen so you can write with it too.

Align the ruler with your pencil dots, using the pen tip; draw a line from dot to dot. Easy Peasy right?

You can choose to stop right there or you can go back and add a few more doodles like these zig-zag lines.

From here you can mount the card on a card base or leave it as a postcard style, color in the oranges, leaves and add a sentiment for whatever occasion fits. As you can see in the first photo — you can apply this technique to several card designs!

Quick & Easy: How to Make Earrings

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by Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

Having a quick look at your craft supplies, you can always find something more to make than papercrafts. Jewelry is one of the best things and you can make them any day and according to your fashion requirements each time.

These Wind Charm earrings are very easy to make and you can follow the same steps to make a necklace just by replacing the earring hooks with a jump ring and passing a cord to it. You only need basic supplies and no special techniques.

StazOn Pigment
in Peacock Feathers

Inkblushers

Sheet Metal
in Diamond 1.25 in

GlazOn

Jewelry Kit 

Rinea Foil Paper

Tear It Tape

Jewelry Punch

Glue Gun

Jewelry Pliers

Directions

Cut 2 x 1 ½ inch pieces of the Rinea Turquoise starstruck paper, 5 for each earring or more if you are planning to make a necklace too. An alternative can be to use two matching color papers and have a result that goes with more outfits. When you have the papers cut, place Tear It Tape at one of the long edges and use a bamboo skewer starting from the opposite edge tightly roll the paper. Secure with the pre-set Tear It! Tape to create the pipes. Using the double-sided tape is easy and does not create a mess.

Place a drop of hot glue on one of the pipes ends and set a small jump ring inside. Continue with all of the small pipes and only at one side. If you do not have a glue gun then a strong liquid adhesive glue such as On Point Glue should work as well.

Punch small holes on two sides of the SHEET Metal in a diamond shape. You can use a hole punch or a piercing tool, but make sure that the openings allow the jump rings to pass. Then, remove the protective film and just press them on the StazOn Pigment in Peacock Feathers ink pad. Allow a few minutes the ink to dry. You can seal the result with GlazOn. This liquid sealant is formulated to work with StazOn inks.

Add a bit larger jump rings to set the pipes on the SHEET Metal diamond shapes and finish by adding an earring hook.