Cardmaking & Papercraft - UK (2020-05)

Crafter’s Q&A

Mybestfriend’sbirthdayis coming

upandshelovessunflowers.Do

youhaveanydesignideas?

LaurenHutchinson,Kent

Dorothysays:Therearesomegorgeousproductsout

thereto helpyoumakea reallyfabulouscard.I founda set

of sunflowerdigitalpapersandclipartfromDarina

DigitalonEtsyorthere’stheWaffleFlowerSunflower

LovestampandmatchingdiesetfromBumbleberrys.

Youcanstamptheflowerswithblackinkandcolourwith

markerpensfora boldimage,butI decidedto trya more

subtleeffect.I stampedtheimagewithVersaMarkink

andheatembossedit withclearpowderthenused

watercolourpaintsto colourthedesign.I diecuttheflowersandleaves,thenmadethe

basecardandaddedmustardandorangepapers.I attachedthefloralimagewithfoampadsthen

re-stampedandcolouredthesentimentpanelbeforeaddinga birthdaygreetingwitha bow.

I’dliketobuyaninkblending

tool,whichwouldyou

recommend?

AnitaSheridan,Blackburn

Dorothysays:Inkblendingis oneof themost

usefultechniquesforcardmakingas it allowsyouto

creategorgeoushandmadebackgrounds,addsubtle

shadingalongedgesandinterestingtexturesusing

stencils.Blendingtoolshaveeithera spongeor

bristlesandtheyaredesignedto addinksoftly,so

therearenohardedges.Originally,spongeink

blendingtoolswererectangularbutit is muchbetter

to usea roundshapeas thisleavesfewerhardlines.

Brandssuchas WoodwareandRangerhavesuitable

toolsaround25mmindiameteroryoucanusea

spongedauberforsmallerareas,availablefrom

Tsukineko.There’sa handy10-piecesetof make-up

blendingbrushesonAmazon,whichhavehandles

liketoothbrushesandareperfectforallsortsof

blending.Whenblendinginksthrougha stencil,the

spongecangettorn,soI wouldrecommendusinga

domedstencilbrushforbestresults.

Welovesharingtips

onourFacebookpage.

Recentlywediscussed

ourreaders’favourite

dies,stampsand

punchesfromtheir

stash.Herearesomeof

thetopcomments...

￿It hastobemymemory

bookdiesasI makebooksas

oftenasI can.I lovebeingable

tobrightenupsomeone’s

specialoccasionortogive

somethingtoremindthemof

someonewhois nolonger

here.Thediesaresouseful!

KimDix

￿I usemynestingcirclediesa

lotonmyprojects.Theywork

sowellforcreatinglayersto

addtomycolouredimages.

AmyGould

￿I havea diethatlooksvery

similartoourdog,soI useit a

lotonmymakes.I alsolovemy

butterflydies– there’salways

roomfora butterfly!

JulieGathercole

￿Mymost-useditemsaremy

paintsplodgestampsasthey

notonlycreatebeautiful

backgroundsformycard

designsbutarealsogreatfor

stampinginthecentreof

flowersfora splashofcolour.

CaroleParnaby-King

￿A hugesetofnestingsquare

dieswithstitchededges.I have

oneforeverysizeI needand

thestitchededgeeffectgives

thatlittlebitofextrapolish!

MichelleShrimpton

￿Myfairydiesareuseda lot

• allgirlslovea sparklyfairy!
  SueMerrills

Where can I

find...

...gardenpapers?

Welovethispaper

adkitfromThe

aperBoutiquefor

s softpinks,

nghamprints

ndbeautiful

orals.Called

Grandma’s

Garden,it features

dogrosesand

eonies,rosehips

andb ackberriesgroupedinto

garlandsandheartshapes.Six

designsover 36 decorativepapers

and 32 die-cuttoppersgivesyoulots

toplaywithwhencreatingcards,

makesandgifttags.

ThePaperBoutiqueGrandma’sGardenpaperkit,

£10.99www.crafterscompanion.co.uk

...die-cuttulips?

’Tistheseasonfortulips

and,sincetheyareoneof

ourfavouriteflowers,

wewerethrilledwhen

wesawthis8-piece

diesetfromSizzix.

Containingallthe

elementsyou’llneed

togrowyourown

tulipfromcardin

prettypastelcolours,

usethediestocreatea

bloomwitha dimensional

shapeandbeautifullayers.Filla

vasewitha papercraftposyto

brightenupa cornerofyourhome.

SizzixThinlitsTulipdieset,£11.99

http://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk

Tweetyourtoptips,crafty

questionsandcomments

to@cardmaking_magorlog

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tipswithfellowcrafters.

Shareyourtoptips

Your tis

& advice

Usetheblendingtool

topreciselyapplyink

toyourwork

Bring sunflowers

to life with

watercolours

http://www.gathered.how/cmpc Cardmaking & Papercraft 57