Category:

Thankyou Tags

20/12/2014

I have recently changed jobs and wanted to say 'Thank you' to all of my amazing team that I worked with. Of course I had to add the personal touch and create something unique. I used the tips from Paula's class earlier this year creating tags using Ranger Distress products. I loved how these tags turned out - each one being a little bit different - just like my managers :)

So to start... I created the tag backgrounds - I didn't have any tags left so I made my own from Ranger Manilla Cardstock - I used Tim Holtz Distress Stain but also made my own sprays using the Distress Ink Refills and Mini Mister bottles, really wanted to make sure I could get the right coverage. It got really messy - so much fun! Love playing :)

I used my new addiction - stencils - with 'Dusty Concord' Distress ink to create some great dimension and pattern on the tags. I then distressed the edges using 'Iced Spruce' Distress ink. I added white splatter with Dylusions ink and then added Damask pattern from Stampers Anonymous and Archival Black ink.

Next was to create the elements - Butterflies and Thank you Die Cuts - I heat embossed both of these giving a great shine and dimension - then added some extra colour to the butterflies with Tim Holtz Alcohol inks.

Time to put it all together.......

The tags all came together beautifully :) each one with its own little bit of 'unique'.

Thanks for visiting NICS - I hope I have been able to share some inspiration with you.

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Alcohol Ink Background and Die Cuts

15/9/2014

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Here are a few cards that I have been playing with this week using my favourite tools and mediums - Ink and Die cuts! Yay - love getting messy and creating something from plain paper.

So my favourite thing is to start with plain paper and build up from there - this time I wanted to use alcohol inks so I used a glossy paper and then using a combination of Alcohol ink colours on the blending tool created the Pink/Purple and the Green/Blue/Yellow backgrounds.

I bought this set of Balloons and I am in love! I have used them for so many things - just love the happiness you get from Balloons :) So after cutting a bunch of these "Gorgeous Little Puffs of Happiness" using my Cuttlebug I also Die Cut sentiments from 'Simon Says Stamp'. I used white and the same colour as I used to "matt" the background, this helped to tie all of the components together.

I stuck the sentiment die cuts together using my 'ZIG' glue pen and offset the white - I wanted it to create a bit of a border/highlight and it turned out great! I also wanted to add some dimension and sheen to the Balloons - Perfect Pearls to the rescue - so shimmery!

So now I don't remember where I got the idea from - either Jennifer McGuire or Kristina Werner - but they made a card where they used the same Balloon die cut and tied the strings to all of the balloons - I loved it! It was very fiddly and it took a lot of patience - but it was worth the effect.

I had one piece of inked background left and I couldn't resist the simplicity of contrasting colour. I die cut a large sentiment and embellished with some gems - love this one too :)

I hope I have shared some tips and inspiration :) I cant wait to share some other cute cards I have made with the happy little Balloons.
Thanks for visiting NICS

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Water Colouring - Backgrounds

25/7/2014

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Hiya, Welcome back to NICS :)
Watercolour has been very popular on all the crafting videos I am seeing - so of course I had to play! I have made a rainbow style background and have used it in a few different ways - hope you like it :)
I started with Watercolour paper and I am using 'woodless watercolour pencils' from my local art store. To add the water effect I am using my waterbrush - there are different brands on the market and also different brush sizes - I am using the wide water brush from Tim Holtz.

It is really easy - I just started to scribble the colour sticks - overlapping between colours and can create additional colours - just wait until you add water!

Then with the water brush (you could also use a paintbrush with water) I blended the colours - follow the direction of the 'scribble' and start with the light colour otherwise the dark colour will overlap and you will mess up the 'blending'. I love the bright rainbow colours and the way the pencil just melts :)

Before I could do anything else I needed to let this dry - you could use a heat tool to make it faster - but I wanted to take advantage of everything already being out on my desk and I made a few more backgrounds ....... after the paper was dry I die cut out hearts - using SSS heart shape die and the Cuttlebug machine.

Ok - so now what to make with the backgrounds? I decided to make a 'shaker card' the colours were so pretty it ended up being the perfect card for Mothers day - I added a sentiment that I cut with my Cricut machine and the card looks so pretty. It matched with the flowers that we gave her and also the "White Paper Layered Frames" (I showed these on my Facebook page and will post the details soon)

So then what do I do with the heart? Well my niece was having a 'bike party' for her birthday - so I used my Cuttlebug to die cut the 'Retro Bike' from 'Fancy-that' I used the sentiment that came with the 'Australian Simply Cards' Magazine on the same day - perfect timing! I added some sparkle to the heart, bike and sentiment using 'liquid perfect pearl' spray from Ranger.

I have been dying to try out my new stencils and texture paste - and with an engagement coming up - this makes the perfect happy 'love' card. This also meant I could use my new 'love' die from SSS. I ended up with a few spare pieces - so here is another card :)

There is so much that you can do with the same background to create different cards, shapes and images. And never let anything go to waste - I love to challenge myself with 'left-overs' to create something - or always save them for another project.
I hope you have some inspiration - I also found the watercolour pencils are great for crafting with the kids - I bought some cheap water colour paper pads from the local craft store and my nieces had so much fun when they stayed over - and the best part - it is relatively "un-messy" :)

Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting NICS :)

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Tags and Techniques with Paula Cheney

20/6/2014

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A few weeks ago I posted on Facebook that I had an awesome weekend - I was so lucky to meet Paula Cheney (creative co-ordinator for Tim Holtz) and be part of her class at "Highlands Scrapbooking" in Moss Vale. https://www.facebook.com/HighlandsScrapbooking
During the class we played with Distress ink, Distress stain, and Tim Holtz stencils with Paula showing us many techniques. We also created a Folio - I haven't completely finished mine yet, I have so many ideas but not sure what photos I want to use. Here are some photos ....

This is the 'Moments in Time' folio and I love this photo with Paula :)

My project is not finished yet - here are all of the elements to make up the folio.

Next it was about inking tags and stencilling - gets a bit messy here (so much fun!) and awesome results!

Here are the tags that I created with the techniques using Stencils, Distress inks and Stamps

One of the tags that I hadn't stamped I was lucky to have Paula sign it for me - I just love this tag!

I now have all of the Tags in a frame - I absolutely love them!

Paula put up a picture of my tags on her Instagram - I feel very special :) here is the link to luckyday http://instagram.com/p/njqJzFl_uj/

I had fun playing, learning and meeting new friends - It was an amazing day! Thankyou Highlands Scrapbooking and thankyou Paula!

Thanks for visiting NICS :)

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Invitation Tag

15/3/2014

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Hi and Welcome Back!
Here is an invitation that I made using lots of techniques - stamping, embossing, blending, die cutting and even using 'Shrinky -dinks"!
I was inspired to use the tag shape from watching Tim Holtz tutorial's and really wanted to use some of the techniques. I have a love of butterflies - so had lots of fun making my butterfly army :)

I started with the butterflys - cutting them from acetate with the 'cuttlebug' die. I used the 'Ranger' alcohol inks from 'Tim Holtz' collection to colour the acetate and then used 'kaisercraft' stamps which had a nice swirl pattern, the butterflies were a similar size which helped with stamping. I used the 'Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink' to stamp the pattern so that it would dry on the acetate. 'Ranger liquid pearls' added the final touch - I used 2 colours - 'onyx pearl' on the ones I used for table decorations and 'platinum' for the butterflies on the invitation - I also used the 'platinum liquid pearls' on the swirls on the tag.

The small tag attached to the bottom of the invitation details had the date for the occasion - I don't have a close up photo of this - this brought back many childhood memories of shrinking chip packets in the oven - I had stamped 'shrink-dinks' shrink film acetate with a swirl pattern, coloured with alcohol inks and using a printed template on plain paper behind the film used a marker to write the details. I used my heat tool to 'shrink' them and they made the cutest little tags! Attaching it to the bottom balanced the dimension on the tag with the butterfly.

Making the tag itself - first was to clear emboss the swirl pattern - I used a stamp from my stash from 'Stampin' up' - this was used for the first step in the resist technique. I then layered stamps from the 'Stamp it' collection creating the background and used lots of ink to blend.
What ink do you ask? Well of course I used my favourite inks! 'Tim Holtz Distress Inks' - which blend beautifully! The tag base was white - so the colours all came from blending the inks.
The final step now for the resist technique on the swirl - I didn't want the raised edge from the embossing so I removed the clear embossing by layering with scrap paper - and ironing it. Yep - ironed it! The embossing melted and absorbed into the paper and left the beautiful swirl.
The final step was to put it all together and add the 'liquid pearls'.

There was a lot of work in creating these which made them really special. I love how they turned out!

Thanks for visiting NICS :)

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70th Birthday Invitations

2/3/2014

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Hi :) Welcome back !

Here is an Invitation for a 70th Birthday celebration. Along with the invitation cards I made a large size card in the same format for all of the family and guests to sign. There are a lot of techniques in this card and the colour scheme worked beautifully.

Here are the products that I have used - Starting with Ivory cardstock I used Versamark and clear embossing powder with the 'Judi Kins' stamp to create the pattern and number stamps for the 70 which was also embossed. Tim Holtz Distress Ink for the colouring, metal paste for the bronzed shimmer, spellbinders oval dies for cutting and shaping and tonic corner punch for the edges.

I randomly stamped the pattern with versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I applied the distress inks over the top and this made the ivory cardstock really stand out.

I applied the metal paste to the central are with my fingertips to create 'shadow' and make the Ivory 'pop' even more.

After clear embossing and then cutting the ovals, I left the die attached to the oval and sponged the distress ink onto the oval - this created another border without too much effort and without having to cut another oval.

Using the 'Tonic Punch' on the corners and then added 'brads' finished the edges.

For that added touch I stamped the envelopes to keep the theme for the invitations.

This was used as an invitation but could also be used as a birthday card. It could be made for any age and also made more feminine by using flower pattern or swirls and more of a pink or green tone - so many ideas - I think I need to go and play!

Thanks for visiting NICS.

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"Save the Date" Invitations

19/2/2014

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Hi and welcome back :)

I would like to share with you the invitations that I was working on a few weeks ago - they have been delivered so now I can show you - This is how it started with creating the backgrounds - Tim Holts Distress Stains and getting Inky!

The invitations are 'Save the Date' for a 10 year anniversary get together for my Brother and Sister-in-law, I was looking for more of an elegant beach theme to tie in with their beach wedding so the silver wash made a nice touch. (10 years - where does the time go!)

There was lots of cutting, printing and creating... I made little heart shakers which also tied in to the beach theme representing sand. I LOVE these cards!

I added a personal feature - there are 6 blue crystals in each heart - representing the 6 members of the family xx

It took a bit of time making the 35 invitations - lots of little steps to make the cards unique and beautiful - It was all worth it! They are printed on the inside and also the back.

I am tempted now to play a bit more - I was thinking black/red with red hearts and shakers could make a nice "Valentine" or "Love" card - or playing with different colours this would make nice wedding or engagement invitations or cards. Something to add to my inspiration list!

Thanks for visiting NICS :)

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Thankyou Tags

Alcohol Ink Background and Die Cuts

Water Colouring - Backgrounds

Tags and Techniques with Paula Cheney

Invitation Tag

70th Birthday Invitations

"Save the Date" Invitations

Hi, I'm Nicole from NICS
I am looking forward to sharing inspiration and ideas with you.

Archives

Categories

Thankyou Tags

Alcohol Ink Background and Die Cuts

Water Colouring - Backgrounds

Tags and Techniques with Paula Cheney

Invitation Tag

70th Birthday Invitations

"Save the Date" Invitations

Hi, I'm Nicole from NICSI am looking forward to sharing inspiration and ideas with you.

Archives

Categories

Hi, I'm Nicole from NICS
I am looking forward to sharing inspiration and ideas with you.