Kissing with confidence!

There's no need to pucker up girls, this is all about a stamping technique rather than some early hints and tips for Valentines day!

I made this card a few weeks ago using a little bird image (Stamp it - Critters CM002) from Hero Arts ...

This is a retirement card so one little bird on his own was just fine. However, I really wanted to make a card with two little birds facing each other, but just couldn't figure out how to do it!

Then I saw this gorgeous card over at Sally's blog and realised that she had seen this stamp and had a similar idea. In her post Sally mentioned that she had used the 'kissing' technique to stamp a mirror image of the little bird. I wasn't familiar with this technique so emailed Sally for some advice.

And so thanks to Sally here is the result: two little birds taking a stroll to meet and catch up on all the gossip! Perfect for the 'Love and Friendship' theme over at Hero Arts (what a shame I forgot to post it on Flickr and missed the deadline!!!!!)

I also used the kissing technique to make some of the cats for my previous post. A few of you asked for an explanation of the technique so here comes a mini tutorial...

Kiss, kiss, kiss

As I said the 'kissing' technique enables you to produce a mirror image of a stamp. I think it probably works best with smaller stamps, but I haven't tested this theory!

You will need a plain block with plenty of exposed, unpatterned rubber. You will be stamping your original image onto this block. I found that the 'Stamp Stitches' shadow/background block from Hero Arts was ideal. I think that smaller transfer blocks will give the best results. This is because a smaller block will enable you to press down more firmly when re-stamping the image.

Ink up your original stamp with a really juicy ink, so that it doesn't dry too quickly. I used Versacolour as it stays moist for quite a long time.

Then stamp onto your plain block.Quickly stamp that image onto your sheet of paper or card.

As you can see the image will transfer, but will be rather pale. You will need to go over the image with a fine liner. I used a Pental Ultra Fine pen which is just perfect as you can use it with Promarkers once it has dried. Finally, just colour your image as usual!

I found heaps of interesting info about different uses of the 'kissing' technique, so I'm going to be experimenting during the weekend. If you need any further explanation of anything I've covered please email me and I'll try my best to help.

Have a great weekend and happy crafting everyone!

How many cats?

It's a colour challenge over at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #67!

However, looking again at the picture I realise that I was way off with the colours that I used for my card! Oh well....

The Gorjuss Girl stamp is called Purrfect friends, and the sentiment is a 99 cent bargain from Squigglefly. They go together so well!

I wanted some of the cats to face the other way so used the 'kissing technique' to do this.

I need to say a very big thank you to the lovely Sally for giving me the low down on how to do this!

I coloured with promarkers and had lots of fun giving each little cat his own 'purr-sonality'.

If you count the cats on the card you will only find 8, but look inside and there's the last cat waiting to be found!This card is for my Mom's friend Pat. Now that adorable little monster 'Fluff' has moved in she has four cats. Fluff can only see through one eye but she doesn't miss a thing and can still climb the curtains with ease!

Happy crafting everyone!

Randon acts of kindness!

Yet again I am thrilled to have been the lucky recipient of not one but two random acts of kindness or RAKs!

The adorable Jane Beljo emailed me her sweet digi-stamp of Mia and Bosko. How kind!

I especially wanted to post this little card today as Jane has just launched her new digital stamp set called Jane's Bakery over at Squigglefly! The set is a real bargain at $3.00 as there are lots of different images to play with!

The second RAK comes in the form of the cute gingham ribbon on this card. This pretty ribbon, and other goodies, arrived with an eBay purchase from someone who trades as 'Mindysmummy'. How kind is that!!!!

I printed Mia and Bosko onto some plain white card and coloured them with Promarkers. I added some Diamond Glaze to accentuate the little heart on Mia's jersey. This was my first attempt with Diamond Glaze and I was a bit shocked at how quickly it oooooozed from the bottle! The background is the Hero Arts digital friendship stamp, printed on some textured blue card. I layered the image and embossed half the base card with my Cuttlebug.

I wanted to leave the card very simple to showcase Mia and Bosko, so just added the ribbon and those little red punched hearts.

I am going to enter this card for Raise the Bar Challenge #2 as the theme is the 'Gift that keeps on giving' otherwise known as 'RAK'!

As a final little RAK I'd like to send this card to someone who is sweet enough to leave a comment on this post. Please make sure that I can back track to your blog to contact you. I will be using the very technical 'names in a hat' method to make the draw!

Happy crafting everyone!

And the rain, rain, rain...

It is raining so heavily, and is so dark as a result, that I just can't get a good photograph of the card I made this morning. Luckily I have something up my sleeve, so to speak!

This little chap is from the set 'Eeeeek! A Monster', by My Cute Stamps.

To say that this set 'called to me' is a huge understatement: it positively jumped up and down and waved a very big flag!

The image is coloured with Promarkers and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. I used my new D'Vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder for the background and distressed with some green and gold Versacolour inks. It looks really pretty in real life. I originally tied a big bow, but as this card is for my friend Rob I swapped it for a knot instead!

Happy crafting everyone!

She's just Gorjuss!

I don't know how I managed to leave this image in my stash for so long without using her! I am so glad that I have had a tidy up and re-found this sweet Gorjuss girl!

I made this little card for my lovely cousin Janis who was 60 on Saturday. I didn't have to walk too far to deliver it as she is my next door neighbour but one! Janis looks amazing and is one heck of a good advert for yoga and healthy eating. She is still as slim as she was as a teenager. Janis has inherited Nanny Kath's genes... not sure where the small, fat genes that I've inherited came from!

I coloured the image with my Pro-markers. I wanted an exact colour match for the scallop so coloured some Bazzils card with the chisel end of my marker and then ran it through my cuttlebug to cut the shape and then emboss it. The sentiment is a Hero Arts Clear design stamp that I attached to my block in a semi-circle. It moved very slightly on the one side but otherwise it worked ok!

Must dash, I have a cut and colour booked for 9.30am!

Happy Crafting everyone!

A little love potion number 9!

Just to prove that my Moonlight Whisper/Kraftin' Kimmie addiction is alive and well!

This 6x6 card is for the following challenges:

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #66 - Musical.

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #13 - Chocolate, red and pink plus some hearts.

Inspirational Card Sketches - Sketch #49

and Allsorts Week 35 Challenge - pink and brown.

The papers are all from the Basic Grey Bittersweet collection and the tiny seed beads and ribbons are from my stash. As you can see I flipped the sketch slightly as it seemed to suit the shape of the image. I left the stamp uncut as I liked the little picture that it created and coloured it with Pro-markers.

Happy Sunday everyone!