Colour is the fundamental part of paper crafting. Inks, pencils, markers, blends which ever you find are your favourite they all unlock a whole world of possibility allowing you to create masterpieces with colour, paper and stamps. Stampin' Up! colouring tools co-ordinate with their papers, ribbons and embellishments. Colour Inks: * Inks can be used for stamping, highlighting, watercolouring and in many other different techniques. * Fast drying dye based inks, and Acid Free * They are grouped in families, neutrals, brights, regals and subtles * Flip top for upside-down storage: pads stay inked during storage * Firm foam pad last longer than felt pads and provides exceptional ink coverage * Can be re-inked with matching Stampin' Up! ink refills Other Inks: *Versamark Ink, create tone-on-tone or watermark effects. Its biggest draw card is its use with Embossing Powder for a 3D effect. * Memento Ink is the basic black * Whisper White Craft Ink, great for sen

Today I would like to introduce Stampin' Up!s punches. Punches are a versatile tool that are a must have in your crafting room. They not only cut easy fun shapes from cardstock, paper and more but they are also portable. And because our stamps co-ordinate with many of our stamp images, you can use punches to cut your stamped images and save tons of time. We have punches that range from label shapes, flower shapes, animal and builder shape punches. Whether you are a card maker, scrapbooker or maker of any other crafty project, punches are a great way of cutting beautiful designs and putting onto your paper crafts. Punch decorate borders and shapes with accuracy and ease. These cards have samples of punched shapes.  Circle #119868 Tailored tag #145667 Classic label #141491 Medium daisy #149517. For a beautiful S.I.P (simple, ink,paper) card, just add designer series paper, ink and punched shapes. Our punches also come in bundles where you save 10% by purchasing bot

Last week we talked about stamps and inking your stamps. Today I would like to introduce Stampin' Up! tools that will make your paper crafting easier and more enjoyable. Along with quality cardstock and stamps you will also need good tools like cutting instruments and adhesives.  Stampin Up have a range of adhesives, these are important for your overall project because you don't want to put all your love into creating your handmade card and have it fall apart. I have put a list of the ones available and also a chart of their best uses. Adhesives come in many types. Some are better than others for certain things but it comes down to whatever you feel comfortable using. ADHESIVES: Tear & Tape - double sided Snail Adhesive - double sided roller tape Multipurpose Liquid Glue - liquid glue that dries clear, has a fine tip and a broad tip. Gives you a little movement when placing your paper down Glue Dots - instant dots of adhesive. Great for embellishments and r

When I was introduced to Stampin' Up! 2 years ago I thought all stamps were the same, that they all stamped the same. But I was wrong there are quality and then there are not so quality stamps. All Stampin' Up! quality stamps are designed and made in their Kanab, Utah, USA factory where they have been made for the last 30 years.  When creating a handmade card, tag or memory page you have to have confidence that the image is going to stamp clearly, this makes the experience so much more enjoyable. Hopefully you find this blog helpful in choosing the right stamps for your project and the right tools to use. . There are two different types of basic stamps. ·     CLEAR STAMPS:     Clear stamps or Photo-Polymer allow you to see right through the image for perfect image placement. They are flexible and easy to line up, also great for layering images like 2 Step Stamping (Check out To A Wild Rose #149452)       To use, carefully remove the stamp from its protective b

Matting and layering was a term I had never heard of when I starting make cards. I read about it in many magazine articles, but nobody explained what it was or how to acheive it. They all seemed to think that the reader would know what was meant by these terms. Well I didn't !! So here I am to help you. The technique of matting or layering is quite simply building up your chosen image onto other papers or cards for effect. They are used to enhance your image or sentiment with  co-ordinating colours.  Cut your cardstock or Designer Series Paper into panels to fit your card, and you can also cut them in different shapes and sizes to add interest. Have some with large or small borders, or t ry laying them down at an angle, or off set to each other for another effect. I also  like to ink the edges too. Move them around until you are happy with the result. Position them on the card in a practise "dry" run, that's where the card templates come