Back to basics .......

Happy Monday folks .....

I hope you had a good weekend.  Ours seemed to be over in no time, we got quite a bit done though.

My little workshops got underway again on Saturday...... first one this year and the ladies were all dying to get back into their crafting.
I'd had a couple of requests to cover the basics again so I decided to go right back to the beginning and do some simple cardmaking.  CAS designs with some easy stamping techniques to make really pretty cards.

We started off with basic rubber stamping ..... and adding a touch of colour.  How cute is this little guy ..... you don't get any more CAS

I like to work on diagonals ..... always a good layout.  Stamp the main image in one corner, sentiment in the opposite one.

The little frog is from an SU Hostess set from last year and I think he's great for mens cards, kid's, all sorts of occasions.
I've simply coloured him using Distress Inks with a bit of water and grounded him with a touch of grey just underneath him ..... so that he doesn't look like he's floating.

The sentiment is an old Magnolia stamp and is the perfect match for this little guy ..... (I've kissed a few frogs in my time ...... I found my prince in the end!!)

I pulled the whole thing together by drawing a square frame onto the card joining up the image with the sentiment.
You can use a ruler to do this or if you're feeling brave go for it free hand.  I did actually use a ruler but only as a guide, no measuring was done! You can see there are a few bits that are not so straight which is how I wanted it.  I then finished off by adding a few dots of glitter glue.

You all know how I like to put something on the inside ...... well I couldn't resist this little face again!

We then moved on to a little bit of heat embossing ..... stamping with Versamark and using gold embossing powder .......

I can't take the credit for this beautiful design I came across the idea on Pinterest, unfortunately I didn't save the exact pin so I can't name check the person who did it originally.

I used the Altenew Painted Flowers ..... love this set.  Stamped the image randomly onto a piece of white card, and embossed with gold.
A great tip when heat embossing is to always use an anti-static bag before you start stamping.  I tend to always use it when stamping onto black card ...... I'm now trying to get into the habit of using it when embossing on white.

A simple sentiment stamped and embossed onto black card, cut down to size and attached using foam pads ..... such a clean, classic look which could be used for any occasion ..... even wedding stationery I think

Of course there had to be something on the inside too ....

Next up we tried stamping with coloured inks .......

We all tend to stamp our images with black, or brown inks, sometimes grey even and then add colour to the images with pens or pencils etc.  Well why not just stamp the image in a coloured ink instead.

I used various colours of Memento ink to stamp my new favourite butterfly ...... from Penny Black's Butterfly Trio ..... and don't they look pretty

I love the bold sentiment over the top ....... this is where the MISTI came in ..... I inked and stamped the word happy until I was satisfied with the depth of colour

You can see that I finished my sentiment by stamping the second part onto a piece of white card, cut it out and attached it with foam pads for a bit of dimension.

I added a few dots of glitter glue here and there, in co-ordinating colours  to the inks .... pink, green blue etc., and finished off the inside with another butterfly

To finish off the class  we took things a step further and added in a bit of stenciling to create more of a background, and then instead of a card they made a little desk calendar

So simple to do .... and they still fold flat to fit in an envelope.

It just an extra piece of card scored and folded and attached to the inside to hold the front and back together so that the calendar stays stood up

A pretty design on the front stamped using coloured inks again ......

And some inspirational words stamped using the MISTI again ......

I think we're going to be playing with dies next time, but that will have to wait until after the house move.

We made a start this weekend to get ready for the move.  We've been making lists ...... lots of lists. Tidying rooms, buying storage boxes, oh ...... and possibly a new dining table!!! Just what we need!
We only popped into the furniture place because we were passing and there it was ...... a beautiful solid oak table ..... not that much different to what we have now but, a better size.  And, it was a great price!!!

I love the table we have now, we've had it for years and I always thought it would stay in the family forever. But I've always wished it was just that little bit wider.  It's fine when there's only 4 of you but over the years the gatherings have got bigger and the more people you have round the table, the less space there is down the centre to put serving dishes etc.
This new one would be perfect ...... and hubby has set his heart on it I think!  We just need to decide what to do with the one we have ..... decisions, decisions!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .....