Category Archives: Beginner

A Little Goes a Long Way

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by Steph Ackerman

A Little Goes a Long Way by Steph Ackerman. Learn how to prepare several cards in one crafting session.

During the summer months, crafting often takes a back seat to outdoor activities and it can often be hard to find some creative time. Rather than stress about it, doing a little advance prep work with making multiple cards will give you more freedom to create. In this tutorial, I set up several designs in one session by using Fireworks Craft Spray to prepare background images.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour

Directions


Step 1

Spritz assorted colors of Fireworks Shimmery Craft Spray on a Craft Mat. Use white cardstock on the mat to pick up the colors.


Step 2

Continue spritzing assorted colors of Fireworks on Craft Mat, pulling up a variety of prints. Put each print aside to dry or use a heat gun to speed up the drying process.


Step 3

Cut the spritzed cardstock into 4″ x 5″ panels for card fronts. When you do this work ahead of time you can save the card panels for later use. Fireworks holds color for a long time so consider cutting the spritzed cardstock into tag shapes. Use this prepared shimmery paper when out when you have a few minutes to get creative.


Step 4

Now you can take each panel and prepare them with different techniques. With this card, I use molding paste through a stencil on one panel and allow to dry.


Step 5

With this panel, I ran it through the die machine with an embossing plate.


Step 6

Complete the stenciled card by inking the edges with VersaMagic in Purple Hydrangea. Mat with purple cardstock and wrap with ribbon. Add to a green card. Add a spray of flowers to the card and add a simple sentiment. Here I added the sentiment “Hello.”


Step 7

Use an ink dauber to add color to the center of the flowers on the embossed panel. Ink the panel with green ink and mat with kraft cardstock and add to a green card. Add the sentiment “Enjoy your Day” to the front and you have finished two cards and have several other panels prepared!

 

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Joy Clair Stamps
  • Craft Too – Embossing Folder
  • May Arts – Ribbon
  • Cardstock – White, Green, Kraft, Purple
  • Expressions Craft – stencil
  • Flowers
  • Molding Paste

Watch a Video on Watercoloring with Memento Markers & VersaFine Clair

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by Melissa Andrew

Watch a Video on Watercoloring with Memento Markers and VersaFine Clair!

Pets are the best! It is often that a dog or a cat is not simply a dog or cat but a member of the family. In today’s tutorial, I create a card with a pet theme using Memento Markers, VersaFine Clair, and clear embossing powder. The combination of these three craft items and the pet imagery really makes a gorgeous and simple creation. Memento Markers are versatile water-based markers so you can watercolor with them, add fine detail and create stunning backgrounds. Join me as I show you how.

 

 

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Whimsy Stamps – Shaker Maker Banner Die Set, An Unbreakable Bond
  • Paper Trimmer
  • Heat Tool
  • Canson Watercolor Paper
  • Cardstock – White

Send Unconditional Love to Someone Special

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by Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

Send Unconditional to Someone Special. Use StazOn Studio Glaze in Gold and Radiant Neon Amplify in White.

With summer being a wedding season, making a special card to give is a great way to spread the meaning of love. A golden heart, precious and rare, on a puffy layer of blooming flowers, surrounded by the flow of gold and, of course, the definition of how love should be, give an elegant style. The corrugated paper used helps create the flow of gold with the irRESISTible Pico Embellisher Gold, which is also used to paint the plaster heart. The Radiant Neon Amplify in White fills the gaps around the heart with a soft texture and the paper flowers give more dimension and focus to the card. Enjoy!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour + dry time

Directions


Step 1

Cut a piece of corrugated paper to 5 x 5 inches. Keep the corrugated paper at an incline and pour irRESISTible Pico Embellisher Gold color and let the wet medium run down the length of the cardboard. The needle-like nozzle helps to set color among the flutes. Set aside and allow to fully dry.


Step 2

Cut the corrugated paper down to 4 x 4 inches. Remove a 2 x 2-inch square piece from the center of the board, set 3/4 inch from the top and 1 inch from the left and right sides, creating a frame.


Step 3

Use a small heart-shaped mold and plaster (or white clay) to create a heart embellishment. When it dries, color it with the irRESISTible Pico Embellisher in Gold.


Step 4

Punch small flowers and shape them with an embossing stylus (alternative use small die cut flowers or petals).


Step 5

Color the tips of the flowers with Delicata Golden Glitz inkpad.


Step 6

Place double-sided foam tape to the back of the corrugated paper frame and place it on a 5 x 5 card base. Do the same with the heart and place it in the center of the square window frame.


Step 7

Use the Radiant Neon Amplify in White and make dots around the heart.


Step 8

Use the On Point Glue to set the paper flowers among the Radiant Neon Amplify in White.


Step 9

Radiant Neon Amplify reacts to heat to create a puffy popcorn-like texture. Use the heat tool to activate the dots to create this puffy texture. Repeat with more dots if necessary to cover the surface. Use the StazOn Studio Glaze Gold color (or the Gold irRESISTible Pico Embellisher again) to decorate the center of the flowers.


Step 10

Stamp a 2 x 1-inch piece of white cardstock with the unconditional stamp and the VersaFine Clair Nocturne. Distress edges with Delicata Golden Glitz.


Step 11

Stamp a small piece of white cardstock with the love stamp and the VersaFine Clair Tulip Red inkpad. Distress edges with Delicata Golden Glitz.


Step 12

Use double-sided foam tape to mount the “unconditional” definition piece, add a small piece of black ribbon and glue. Add the stamped “love” piece, add flowers and any additional embellishments. If you are happy with the card as I was then you can stop here and the design is finished!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Corrugated paper – white
  • Plaster
  • Heart-shaped mould
  • Flower punch
  • Cardstock – white
  • Double-sided foam tape
  • 5 x 5 cardbase
  • Heat tool
  • Kaisercraft – Furry friends stamp

Make These “Give Something Away Day” Friendship Rocks

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by Roni Johnson

Make These "Give Something Away Day" Friendship Rocks

July 15th is “Give Something Away Day” so I thought it would be fun to participate and make something to give away. I have these lovely beach stones a friend sent me just waiting for the right project to come along and I think this is it! You’ll find this is a quick and easy crafty project to satisfy your artsy muse!

Skill: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes

Directions


Step 1

Wash and dry stones to be stamped. Let dry. Pounce desired color of VersaMagic DewDrop over the top portion of the stone to be stamped. VersaMagic will provide a good base for stamping.


Step 2

Heat the ink to set the ink.


Step 3

Stamp desired images onto the stone using VersaFine Clair ink.


Step 4

Continue to decorate each rock differently. In the photo above, I stamped “hello” on this rock. Heat set the inks so they become permanent.

 

These friendship rocks are so much fun to make…they are a bit like potato chips, you can’t make just one. I thought I’d make a couple but I ended up making a small pile of them so I’ll have lots to share with friends!

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Rubber Stamp Tapestry – Image stamps
  • JFF Rubber Stamps – “Hello” sentiment stamp
  • Heat Tool
  • Rocks

Send Birthday Wishes and Puppy Dog Kisses

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by Elina Stromberg

Send Birthday Wishes and Puppy Dog Kisses. Use Gold embossing.

Our color of the month is Golden Glow. Gold is an excellent choice for July a month filled with bright sunshine and sparkle! In today’s tutorial, I create this sweet birthday card theme with two puppies that are colored by hand. This time I used a golden color for decorating the background of a cute birthday card. I love how it turned out!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour

Direction

dabbing clear VersaMark on the background, remove the masks, and heat-emboss the revealed pattern using Gold Embossing Powder.
Step 1

For decorating the card background I used two stencils that I layered on top of each other. I placed the number themed pattern stencil on the card background and masked with a circle stencil. Create the pattern with heat embossing by dabbing clear VersaMark on the background, remove the masks, and heat-emboss the revealed pattern using Gold Embossing Powder.

yellow ‘Cantaloupe’ Memento ink
Step 2

Place another, slightly larger circle stencil on the heat-embossed area, and inked the round background area with yellow ‘Cantaloupe’ Memento ink. This step made the background less busy, letting the stamped, colored, and fuzzy-cut main images pop. When the background was ready I stamped and colored the puppy images on white cardstock. When fuzzy cutting I left a thin area around the images, which made the cutting a lot easier as not all the finest details needed to be cut out.

My Favorite Things Top Dog collection
Step 3

The cute puppy stamps are from My Favorite Things Top Dog collection. The extra copies can be used for trying out new color combinations, but they also become handy if something goes wrong with coloring and you need to start over. I used Promarker alcohol markers for coloring, so for stamping it was important to use a water-soluble Memento. Tuxedo Black was just the right choice for that step.

My Favorite Things Top Dog collection

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Cardstock – White
  • Carabelle Studio – Number stencil
  • Two circle stencils
  • My Favorite Things – ‘Top Dog’ stamp
  • Glue
  • Promarkers
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape
  • Cardbase

Create Decorative Sand with All-Purpose Ink

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by Iris Rodriguez

Create Decorative Sand with All-Purpose Ink

It’s summertime, time for that beach vacation. As you enjoy the sea breeze blowing on your face, the sand tickling your face, the sounds of kids playing, and the seagulls flocking in the distance, let the real world melt away. Much better, right? Before you leave though, pack some sand and bring it home for some fun craft projects, like a sand art terrarium using a glass jar and All-Purpose Inks to color the sand. If you are not going to the beach, it’s okay, you can get sand from the craft store…we won’t tell.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour

Directions


Step 1

Select a glass container. I used, what used to be a candle jar, measures 4 x 4 x 4 inches, 8 ounces.


Step 2

Cut a piece of foam to fits the center of the jar. Use at least one branch along with the foam to measure the foam’s height. Leave 1 to 2 inches gap from the rim. This will keep the sand from spilling over. The foam will be completely covered by the sand.


Step 3

Arrange the flowers on the foam. Add hot glue to the holes. Artificial succulents and plants will also work. Or you can make it a beach theme by adding seashells.


Step 4

Add hot glue to the bottom of the foam.


Step 5

Glue the foam with flowers in the center of the jar.


Step 6

Place sand in the bag. Fill about a third of the bag, which for the jar used in this project made ¼ to ½ inch layer.


Step 7

Drop in two to three drops of ink. Sand is very porous, a little goes a long way. Seal the bag, ensure to release the air inside.


Step 8

Smoosh the sand around with your fingers and shake so that it moves around. When all of the sand has been colored, you are done. The sand dries instantly. There is no dry wait time. However, if you use a little too much ink, the sand will stay wet. With the ink, it’s not easy to tell it’s wet as you can with water. To test out if the sand is wet, run the sand through your fingers, if it does not run through your fingers smoothly, then it’s wet. Visibly, it will look loosely clumped. Even if slightly wet, it will not go through the funnel or layer smoothly and will stain the layer below. In this case, leave the bag open and let the sand dry.


Step 9

Repeat step 8 for each color. Use a different bag for each color.


Step 10

Pour sand into the funnel and layer the sand. Pour a little bit of sand at a time. Rotate the jar and fill a different area. An alternative is to use a small measuring spoon.


Step 11

Continue to layer until you reach the top and have covered the foam. Use the Imagine’s Doodlestix to reach in and move the sand around.

 

Now you have a DIY home décor nice or cute gift for that special someone. Hope you give this project a try.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Sand
  • Glass jar or container
  • Artificial flowers or succulents
  • Snack size sealable plastic bags
  • Small funnel or measuring spoon
  • Foam
  • Hot glue