Using up the leftovers

Hello everybody!
I'm loving the summer holidays, and the little bit of extra space it brings to my life. I've been making plenty of cards, and today I have two to show you that use up some pieces that I had left over from the August 2017 Cropaholic kit

For the first card I was trying to think like a scrapbooker, and cluster my elements. I used all the smallest pieces, and grouped them around a circle to give the card some structure. I spattered the card base A LOT before starting to lay out the elements. I'm still deciding how I feel about that much busyness on the background as I usually work Clean and Simple.
Here's a closer look at the card.

Next, I used a single piece of paper from the kit to be the background for a card. 

Because the rest of the card was all white, I wanted to add some interest to the paper, so I chose to do an ombre look. I used Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide to darken the top portion of the card, and white pigment ink to lighten the bottom. I love the effect this gave, and will definitely be doing it again.

Finally, a quick look at (some of) the aftermath. Does anybody else's desk look like this when their done with crafting? I guess I know what I'll be doing next! 

If you are interested in seeing more cards, you can find me on Instagram.
We'd love to see what you've made with your leftovers, so share any projects you have in the Facebook groups.
I look forward to creating for you again!
Blessings,
Donna

Making the most of your Distress Oxide

Hello everybody!
It's Donna here and I've got a set of four cards to share with you today, all of which use different techniques with Distress Oxides.

I purchased my Oxide Inks from Shop and Crop, and I thought they were the best value I'd seen. You can still order them through the shop, and if you use the code DL5 you can get a further $5 off the purchase price. Today's cards use inks mostly from set 2, but the Worn Lipstick comes from set 1.

Set 1

Set 2

 I have combined the Distress Oxide inks with stencils, embossing folders, water, paintbrushes, embossing powder and  stamps to make the following cards.
This first card used an embossing folder first, and the Distress Oxides in Twisted Citron and Peacock feathers to colour the fern leaves, rubbing very gently so that only the raised areas are coloured.
The sentiment was coloured with Distress Oxide and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

 This next card is my favourite. I have used an ink blending tool to spread the Peacock Feathers ink, and then spattered and stamped with the same ink.

 Next,  I used a stencil over blended inks in Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral and Candied Apple. By spraying water through the stencil, I was able to get a soft triangle pattern. I used vellum to help the sentiment to stand out from the background.

I used another piece that I had blended and used the stencil and water on to cut the pieces for the next card. This card has a clean and simple look, despite being covered in pieces, because there is still plenty of white space left.

 I'll leave you with some close ups of the cards I created. I'd really encourage you to grab some Distress Oxides and have a play with them, They are really versatile, and can be used in so many ways that it's easy to get your money's worth out of them.

Until next time, happy crafting!

If you're interested in seeing more cards, feel free to visit my Instagram account

Merry Christmas to all of you, and I look forward to chatting again in the New Year!

Blessings,

Donna

November Mood Board and Christmas tags

Hello again! Donna here, and I’m excited to share with you what I’ve made with the November mood board.

I smooshed Distress inks onto watercolour paper to create the background, building up the layers until I was happy with the result. This background could easily be made using Distress oxides too.

I then stamped the leaf three times on white card stock before heat embossing the with gold. I fussy cut the leaves leaving just a tiny margin of white around the outside.

I tore some vellum into pieces to mount each of the leaves onto. I love the look of torn edges. Once I had glued the leaves onto the vellum, I put a little glue on the back of the vellum only where the leaves were because the glue shows through vellum and can wreck the look. I glued these to the card, starting in the centre.

So, are you going to enter the November mood board challenge? It's such a beautiful board, it seems a shame to miss out! Don't forget you can win a store voucher if you're the winner. 

Share your entries here.

Next, I have some very simple Christmas tags for you. So many of the Christmas packs have Ephemera and die cut shapes, and I've used these to make some tags. I cut the tags using a die, and layered greetings and pictures on top, sometimes popping part of the image up with foam tape. Here's a look at the set of tags.

Here are some close ups of the tags. You can see the dimension in the tag below, created by raising the top berries.

This Santa's face made me laugh. He looks completely frazzled and overworked, but he's pressing on!

This tree took the whole tag, and then some, but I like the way it hangs over the edge.

It's always a pleasure to share with you what I've been up to, and I hope you are inspired to get crafty, either with the mood board, or making some Christmas tags.

Until next time, may you enjoy the approaching Christmas season,

Blessings, 

Donna 

Instagram: donnadoll74

New Card Kit!

Hello everybody! I’m so excited that Shop and Crop now has a card kit to add to the other fabulous kits. You can buy the kit as a one off, or get a subscription and get a discounted kit every month. (Next month's kit is already looking fabulous)
If you use the code DL5 when you order, you can get $5 off the purchase price.


I’ve been making cards with the kit and getting the instructions all done. Here’s a sneak peek of a couple of the cards that you’ll be able to make with the kit.

For today’s blog post I’ve also used the kit. Even after making 12 cards, I have so much beautiful paper left over, and I’ve barely made a dent in the Ephemera pack that was jam packed with Christmas goodies, so I'm going to keep going!

The only difference is that today's cards also use things from my stash at home. All the instructions for the kit cards use only what comes in the kit, so you don't need any special supplies.

Firstly, I used my watercolours to make this night sky background. I love Christmas cards with non traditional colours, and even though it doesn't snow in Australia, I think this would be the perfect card for my friend in England. The two snowflakes come from the Ephemera that was in the card kit, and so does the Merry Christmas sticker, which I mounted up on dimensional tape.

For this next card, I used a stamp that I had in my stash, and embossed the trees in gold.  I also used some gold paint to spatter the background. Some sequins from the kit and another of these great stickers completed the card.

I'm so excited about the release of the card kit, and I hope that lots of people take it up, and use it as an opportunity to get all their Christmas cards done. I've tried to include both different techniques as well as some ideas for quick and easy cards that can be mass produced. I don't know about you, but I always need lots of cards at Christmas. Making cards with the kit has got me off to a great start!

So, until next time, may your days be crafty, and your nights too!

Blessings,

Donna
Instagram: donnadoll74

Spiring sunshine

Hello!
It's Donna here, celebrating the fact that the sun has made it all the way to Victoria, and I finally have some sunny days to enjoy!
I've made two spring inspired cards to celebrate.
I've used the lovely papers in the September Cropaholic Kit from Jillibean Soup.

This first card has a splash of Distress Oxide which I loosely painted onto white cardstock, then spattered on some more for good measure!
Onto this I adhered some flowers and leaves from the cutout sheet, cutting one of the bigger flowers in half ( I used the other half at the bottom of the page as a small tag) I used a sentiment from my stash, and some black and white striped paper from an earlier kit.

The second card has a mix of elements, all from different parts of the kit. The yellow hearts are the leftovers from an earlier shaker card that I made using the kit. The sentiment was cut from one of the papers, and highlighted with a black pen. I used a doily, which I coloured with Distress Ink.
I adhered the hearts so they appear to be floating off the page.

I hope that these cards give you some ideas so that you can make the most of your kits.

Until next time, may your days be sunny.
Blessings,

Donna
instagram donnadoll74

Reflections - shaker cards

Hi everybody,
It's Donna here with some more cards using the Jillibean Soup paper that were in the September Cropaholic kit.

The theme for this month's challenge is Reflections, and looking at our favourite projects. I chose this card that I made about a month and a half ago because I love it, and because it highlights one of my favourite things- shaker cards. Here is the card I'm talking about.

In this post I have also included a detailed how-to for making your own shaker cards or elements in your scrapbooking pages. 

I have below a picture of all the elements I used to make another shaker card below. The only things not pictured are clear plastic, like the plastic that the kits come in, and adhesive tape. The important thing here is the rectangular white piece with a square cut out of it. You can make any shape shaker, like the small hearts which are all individual shakers in the card above. If you have a cutting machine, this step is easy, but the same effect can be made by carefully cutting a hole out with scissors.

First I attached the frame to the front of the card. This is optional, but I thought for this card, the pop of green would stop the card from being too pink all over.

 Next, on the back of the panel, I laid down some adhesive tape (glue would be just as good) and cut a piece of plastic to just larger than the cutout window and laid it on top. If you look carefully, you can see the clear plastic in the photo below.

Once the plastic was in place, I added the next layer of adhesive. This time it was foam tape. You can do two layers if the bits that you want to shake around are thicker, as they were in the heart shaker card. The important thing is to not leave any gaps around the window, because the sequins will escape if you do! I had to be especially careful in this case, because the sequins, which come from my stash, are tiny, and also because the You are Amazing panel was only just bigger than the window.

I added some sequins to the middle of the window, then peeled off the middle tape, and placed the You are Amazing panel face down on the window. I then added a little more flat tape to the middle section.

Next, I peeled off all the backing and stuck the shaker element to my card, which was exactly the same size as the shaker panel.

 Finally, I added the flamingos and flowers to complete the card, using a mix of flat and dimensional adhesive tapes.

 Finally, here is the completed card.

Until next time, may you know how amazing you are,

Blessings,
Donna
@donnadoll74

Floating on Air and Distress Oxide Bargain

Hello crafty friends!

Today I'm going to share three cards and an opportunity to grab a bargain on some Distress Oxide inks.

I don't think I'm ever going to get sick of the September Cropaholic Kit! Honestly, it's my favourite thing yet. I've made three cards to share with you today, using various parts of the kit. 

Firstly I used the clear plastic packaging that came with the kit to do some ink smooshing onto watercolour paper. I used Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers, Abandoned Coral, and Wild Honey. Then I used the stamp that came with the kit (pictured below) and laid it onto the blue and a little onto the coral ink and left it there until the ink dried. You can see that the ink is paler  where it had contact with the stamp. Then over to the left on the coral, you can see a darker pattern where I inked up the stamp and stamped on top of the ink.

I finished the card by mounting the panel onto cardstock, and using some heart wood veneers and the word today from the cutout sheet. In order to have it make sense as a card sentiment, I rummaged through my stamps until I found one with the word "enjoy" on it, and white heat embossed it to complete the card.

For this second card I got out my Distress Oxide inks. This is where the bargain comes in. The lovely Kylie at Shop and Crop is doing a deal on the entire first set of inks for $100. If you use the code DL5, you can get a further $5 off, so that the inks will be $95, instead of the RRP of $114 for the set. Bargain! I've ordered a set! the same deal is available on Set 2.

I used an old feather stencil that a friend gave me to make the feathers for this card. I used an ink blending tool and the distress inks glide on like butter. Unlike regular dye inks, they are very forgiving, and don't leave dark splodges if you accidentally press too hard. (which I do often). I used the exact same colours as the first card, but this time in the Oxide inks. I then carefully fussy the feathers, leaving a small white border. The Jillibean Soup paper with the feathers was a perfect match, but needed toning down a little so that the card wasn't too busy. I'm really pleased with the effect of the different sizes of feathers, but there are many images in the kit that would look great on this card, like the cute bicycles.

Here's a close up look at the layers of the card.

Finally, I have a very simple card that highlight the papers in the kit. There were so many combinations of papers I could have chosen to make this card, and all of the Shop and Crop Kits (except the Mixed Media Kit) have coordinating papers, so this is a card design you could use for any kit from any month!

I hope this has inspired you to stretch the supplies in your kit to get the most out of it, and that even if you're not a card maker, that you've enjoyed looking at the designs.

If you'd like to see more, feel free to visit me on Instagram  and see what else I've been up to!

Don't forget to use the code DL5 if you're planning to get the Oxides, so you can get the cheaper price.

Until next time, may you enjoy every day, and get a chance to be creative too!

Blessings,
Donna