fingertips & braincells

do you have lots of plain flowers ?

would you, like to do something fun with them?....take a look here

what you need :

• plain flowers
• inkpad
• stamp

black magic is a new type of paper that has a black textured surface and a colored core.

this paper is ideal for sanding, tearing, antique-ing ....

in this tutorial i'll show you a basic card made with this new paper

what you need:

• black magic paper
• cuttlebug
• ovaal punch
• ribbon
• small brads
• a few matching flowers
• distressing kit or a soft brush and sandpaper
• glue and craftknife , stamp and ink
• 
  

cut a piece of black magic paper to the size you need for your card

and run it through an embossing folder of your choice

make sure the raised effect of the embossing is on the black side !

use your distress kit or sandpaper to gently rub the top layer

of the embossing , magically the core color will appear .

there will be a lot of fine dust so use a very soft brush to

brush it off , do this regularly to see the effect of the sanding.

stop when you like the result , you can always sand a bit more after .

now you can do some tearing , it reveals more of the core color

glue this to the card , yes, the back of the paper is the core color :)

then use your oval punch

and your stamp for the sentiment

cut two slots where you can insert the ribbon

glue the ribbon and sentiments on the card

add a few flowers with little brads

here's one with blue

what is a cuttlebug i hear you say ?

well it's a very simple tool that you can use in scrapbooking and cardmaking. you can use it for die cutting and embossing ...but let me show you with a few pictures

you need:

• a cuttlebug ( made by provocraft)
• embossing folder and dies
• cardstock

open you cuttlebug and use the plates a+b+b as shown

put cardstock in embossing folder

put between plates , place in cuttlebug and turn handle untill everything reappears at the other side

very simple isn't it ? it might require a gentle nudge to get the plates started ! but if you feel you really need to push hard you might be using the wrong plates, don't ! it might kill your bug !

how's this for a result ? happy ....?

ok ! on to the next thing ...die cutting

get out you die and some cardstock

place the die with the foamside up on the two bottom plates

put your cardstock on top and add the top plate

run the stack through the cuttlebug ....ready for some fun ? you can open your stack now and see the results !!

easy isn't it ?

tip: if you are using paper or card that has two different sides think about which way to put the paper to get the required color

have you ever wondered how to color in stamps ?

there are various ways of doing it :

1. using corloring pencils
2. using aquacolor pencils and water
3. using pastelcolors and a low odour solvent such as sansodor

i am no expert at this but perhaps a few simple pictures will help you along.

what you need :

• good quality paper .
• pastelcolors of a good quality
• low odour solvent
• rolled paper stumps
• stamp
• archival ink , waterproof

what to do :

Stamp your chosen image on the paper with archival ink

choose from your pastelcolors

color your stamp , you don't have to fill the spaces completely

you can choose to do each color seperately or do all at ones

dip your paper stump in the sovent , only the tip

and use it to distribute the pastels in the spaces

continue until all spaces are done , use a different paper stump for each color

as i said i'm no expert, it's up to you now to become one :)