Simple Flower Cards

Hello everyone 🙂

The last few weeks have been spent settling in to my new job and trying to wrap my head around the mechanisms of a (quite) different workplace. It’s been interesting, difficult at times and definitely a challenge but I am getting there. I miss my old workmates terribly, but have caught up with a few of them since I left and will continue to do so.

Craft-wise, I have been working on a few simple designs for my cards, drawn whilst watching TV mostly, and coloured with alcohol markers. I do rather like the bright colours against a nice, white background and adding a bit of padded tape gives the blooms an extra “pop”. I made a whole batch of these cards when leaving my last job – they’re quick to do (sort of) and don’t need lots of supplies. Otherwise I end up with all sorts of crap strewn about the place. I don’t need to worry about finding the right ribbon or button or embellishment. I do wish I had nice handwriting so I didn’t need to use rubber stamps but, until that particular talent comes to me, I am utilising those stamps!

I will have to get cracking on making Christmas cards soon, otherwise I will be panicking halfway through December and staying up at unGodly hours trying to get some done in time to post or give out.

Hope you are all well and safe and creatively happy 🙂

Frosty Greetings

Following on from my previous post, I am on a bit of a snowman vibe at the moment.  I used to draw this particular little guy about 15-20 years ago, and had forgotten all about him.  I don’t know why, because he is so quick and easy to draw and enables me to get lots of cards done in a short amount of time.  Better still, he is of course white so I don’t have to do lots of colouring!  Just black for his hat, a bit of red or blue for his scarf and a tiny swipe of cool grey (Oh I do love my Copic Markers!) for some shadowing, and I’m done.  I’ve tried him with and without a carrot nose – I prefer him without – and he doesn’t even have the customary black-dotted mouth (I’ve always found them a bit creepy).

A quick stamped sentiment and a card is done and dusted in no time.  And I enjoy doing them.  He makes me smile.  I think I also like the fact that he is all mine – my design and idea (although, how hard was it to come up with a snowman?). He’s not exactly a very Australian concept though – perhaps I should try him with a bush hat (the kind with corks hanging from it) and some gum leaves sticking out of it.  Actually, that’s an idea…

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

 

Simple Stamped Snowmen

This is a quick and easy card idea that would be fun to do with kids (or adults!) and produces some lovely, quirky little characters.  I made a whole stack of these in one evening – perfect for when you are time poor and need to make a lot of cards in one go.

There’s lots of examples of stamped snowmen on various websites, using potatoes or sponges cut to shape.  I didn’t have any potatoes (my cupboards were a bit bare this week) so I carved a little roughly-circular-ovalish shape from a leftover piece of rubber from my printing class earlier in the year. I dabbed the stamp into a moistened sponge that had white paint on it and stamped onto some mini brown card stock.  It doesn’t matter if the stamped image doesn’t come out completely perfect – it adds to the design and makes it a bit more rustic and handmade.  But you can fix it up with some more paint if you want to.  The extra details were cut out of coloured card stock and drawn on with a Pigma Micron pen (they’re my go-to for doodling and adding details to things, especially when I don’t want any bleeding of ink or smudges).

I stamped a Christmas greeting on each card to finish, and voila!  So simple and quick!  They’re really cute and you can make each snowman quite individual, just by adding different details.  Try a scarf, or some holly on his hat, or no hat at all.  I also added a bit of glitter to them to help the white shine (you can’t see it in the photo…) but you can do anything you like to make them your own.

Hope your festive season is shaping up to be happy and heart-warming 🙂