Friday 1 July 2011

Young Crafters Unite!

Hello everyone, and welcome to this very special Friday!
"Why is it special?", I hear you cry!
It's because today is the Young Crafters Unite blog hop, of course!


You should have arrived here from the wonderfully talented Kathy Racoosin's blog: welcome :)

So the question of the moment is this: What makes me a young crafter?
Well, I'd have to say lots of things, but I'll just share two (and I'll just warn you - this is going to be a long post!).

1. For a start, I've always been told that I'm an old head on young shoulders, mature for my age, old before my time... but I'm only 25!

2. I also love playing - my 'stash' is my toybox, my craft desk my playroom - and crafting is playtime! You know how kids can get so incredibly absorbed in a make-believe world, so that nothing and no-one can break them away from it? Well, that's me when I'm making a card (at times, much to Mr. Blackburn's consternation)!

So that's little ol' me :)

Right, now on to the card. I actually decided to be extra generous, and give you two cards, since you've all been so nice and have stopped by today!

The 'favourite thing' I'm using is the 'distressing' technique, more specifically, my collection of Tim Holtz Distress Inks.
I'm going to show you two cards because this technique is so incredibly versatile, and creates so many different and gorgeous effects.

Here is the first card:


 With this card, I inked up the entire card base with 'Victorian Velvet' Distress Ink. The centre strip is inked with a light coat of 'Antique Linen', and then the edges are blended with more 'Victorian Velvet'.
I inked the poppies heavily with more Antique Linen on a separate sheet of card, trimmed them and adhered to the centre strip, and then added some pink hints with a Prismacolor pencil. The stems were coloured with an earthy Copic marker, and adhesive pearls finished off the centre of the open flowers.
I added a sentiment, and some butterflies, and there it is!

So that is the first effect - a lovely, soft all-over colour, which gives an elegant and charming, vintage effect.

Okay, here's the second card:



And instead of boring you by typing up all the details on how it was put together... I've made you a video!:



So with this card, you can see that the distressing technique has been used again, but it has a totally different effect; it ages the edges of the paper, and gives the card a sort of rustic, organic feel which compliments the jute twine and the veggies without changing the overall 'feel' of the card. It's still clean and simple, just with a twist :)

(Visit Marie/Legojenta's blog, which focuses on that Tuxedo Black Memento marker in her video.)

And here is a picture of some purple carrots that I found, as promised in my video!!! How cool are these?!:



Right. Finally, I want to share a past post with you, of one of my favourite cards that I've made (to continue the 'favourite' theme).
It was really hard to choose between two previous posts, but this one won out:






(If you're interested in the second one, view it here: http://www.natashablackburn.com/2011/05/hang-me-out-to-dry.html)


The video of the second card I made uses the carrot image from the 'Vegtastic' stamp set by Paper Smooches, which I just loooooove!!! And, while we're on the topic of Paper Smooches, this lovely company are generously giving randomly selected commenters a chance to win one of their stamp sets! (Thank you, Kim!)
We also have a $20 gift certificate from Simon Says Stamp (thank you, Heidi!), and a stamp set from Lawn Fawn (and thank you, Kelly Marie :)

So, once again, to win one of these fantastic prizes, be sure to leave comments on each blog as you stop by. The more comments you leave, the greater your chances of winning!!!


Okay, well, that's it from me. Thanks again for visiting, and don't forget to leave a comment (as if you could :) !!!

Your next stop is CiCi's blog.

See you soon!





SUPPLIES:

Card #1:
Cardstock: White card blank, from my stash; 200gsm white coated cardstock, Ryman's (UK)
Ink: Antique Linen and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks, Tim Holtz by Ranger; Tuxedo Black, Memento; Copic marker
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages, Papertrey Ink; Delicate Blossoms, Hero Arts
Etc: 3D squares, from my stash; Martha Stewart 3-butterfly punch; adhesive pearls; Prismacolor pencil; ATG gun

Card #2:
Cardstock: White linen cardstock, Papermill Direct (UK); Kraft, from my stash
Ink: Tuxedo Black, Memento; Memento Marker; Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Tim Holtz by Ranger
Stamps: Vegtastic, Paper Smooches
Etc: Jute twine; Soft green pearls - both from my stash; Prismacolor pencils; 3D squares; ATG gun

52 comments:

  1. Such wonderful card, Natasha! I love how soft the first card feels, and I really love the purple carrot on your second card =) Thank you so much for joining our bloghop!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Both cards are great Tasha! Love the soft pink in the first! The purple carrot is great in the 2nd! Awesome video too! Thanks for the tutorial and the technique on making. Never quite knew how to do that!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I meant to say technique on masking!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are both amazing cards!!! I also really really enjoyed your betterfly card!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Natasha your cards are beautiful! I have the first poppy stamp on it's way from an online store and can't wait to use it :) thanks for your wonderful inspiration!

    Happy 4th of July weekend and happy hopping!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the use of the inks! The first card is beautiful and the second card is fun! http://visionsofpaper.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the video. I'll be on the look out for purple carrots.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the purple carrot. Great cards!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the distress inks on the first card-so light and pink! Fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is such a fun card! Now I want to find some purple carrots to have with dinner! TFS!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your style! Your cards are beautiful, thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your first card is so stunning and the second is way to cute!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Natasha I love your cards, especially the first one!

    ReplyDelete
  14. My daughter's name is Natasha, too!!! It's the only girl name that I fell in LOVE with. Second, you are talented, missy!

    ReplyDelete
  15. lovely cards. the butterfly one was the best.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, these are all gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely Cards

    Ruby
    raleman_2000 at yahoo dot com
    http://handcraftedsimplybyus.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. I loved this card.. Especially the ones with the butterflies.. I love butterfly.. TFS..

    Hugs,
    Khush

    ReplyDelete
  19. Such pretty cards! I am a distress fan too!
    Thanks for sharing,
    Blessings,
    Bunny
    http://bunnyrunswithscissors.blogspot.com/
    http://www.ajillianvancedesign.com/

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love both of the cards you shared, the new and the older favorite! And I really loved your tutorial and your tip about sealing off the ends of the twine. I'm definitely going to start doing that. And I agree, purple carrots are awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Two great cards, I love how you have shown your wide range of style from lovely to cute! I'm going to be a new follower of yours now :) so glad you participated in the blog hop too!

    ReplyDelete
  22. LOVE the first and third cards! Great colors :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. love these! they're all so great! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. So much fun, I'm a young crafter, I have only been doing this for about a year and a half and that makes me an infant in the crafting world and my body feels like its 80 and my mind feels like its 30....lol I'm a little confused rite now not sure how old I am...lol

    ReplyDelete
  25. delightful cards ~ love the poppy one

    ReplyDelete
  26. ooh, I have the delicate blossoms stamp so can try a similar card, love the addition of pearls to your projects. They are all beautiful cards- well done.

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a gorgeous set of cards! I love that you've made videos to go with the cards! Thanks for sharing! :D

    I think Mr Tania gets a bit jealous of my craft time too ;)

    I am also participating,I'm Number 32 in the hop!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great projects! Love those veggies. I've been making purple carrots recently, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a great set of cards! Love the cute images, the distressing... great coloring technique Natasha.

    ReplyDelete
  30. You have beautiful distressing techniques! After seeing your first card I realized I need to get the 'Victorian Velvet' color! So pretty! Love all of your cards!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I LOVE your cards - the florals and text remind me of Jennifer McGuire - FABULOUS. And of course I LOVE the carrot card with Paper Smooches! I used the same stamp on one of my cards for the blog hop! Great work, Natasha!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Natasha, your cards are stunning! Love that Hero Arts poppies stamp you used on the first card. And I too love those veggies from Paper Smooches!!! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow, these are DIVINE designs! Love them!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love the colors on your first card. They are beautifully subtle. The second card is so whimsical, I love it too.

    ReplyDelete
  35. THANKS so much for sharing all of your AWESOME cards!! I really enjoyed your video too!! I LOVE the color combo on the butterfly card!! Have a FBAULOUS WEEKEND!! =)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Both cards are awesome, but that first one is just stunning! Can't wait to get my order in for some of these inks! TFS!


    Be sure to stop by my blog to enter my 500 followers giveaway!


    XO ~ Amy Jo
    amyjrockstar at gmail dot com
    http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love the soft feel of the Anniversary card - so pretty! I just subscribed to your YT channel so I can watch more of your videos!

    ReplyDelete
  38. This is lovely! that first card is so sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  39. All your cards are fantastic but the pearls in the flower card took my breath away.

    ReplyDelete
  40. These cards show your diversity, with the soft, romatic flower card and the bold, colorful veggie card. They're great!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Natasha, both of these cards are wonderful! I loved your video as well. I agree that masking always looks a little scary and messy when you're doing it, but it's always worth it for the end result. Love the addition of the purple carrot as well. I've never had the chance to try one before but might make something with them this summer just for fun. :) Thank you for joining us at the Young Crafters Unite blog hop!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Really nice cards. I like your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Fabulous cards and thanks for the video.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Oh, Natasha! I love your style. I'm a new subscriber. :)
    -Elaine Uhl
    http://createNstamp.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for leaving a comment! I love reading them; they are so encouraging and inspiring. Thank you again! x