WIP Wednesday – March 23

March 28, 2022 by Leave a Comment
A peek at my desk today.

The title of this post was inspired by a colorist that I watch on YouTube where she works on her unfinished coloring projects – her works in progress (WIP). So I thought I would borrow it since as a small business owner I am constantly surrounded by WIPs.  It’s also a fun peek inside of what’s happening here in my craft room. I will also share WIPs of projects I do for fun like my coloring book pages.

Last week, I showed you these butterflies that I had intended on completing to hang up in my studio. Well, I never got around to gluing them so today I will finish the gluing process and hang them up.

I also started working on the backgrounds for these cards that I mentioned to you on Monday.  I hadn’t completed them so today I will assemble the cards. This is actually one of my favorite parts of cardmaking. Once I have all the components made, I can work on the layout and other aspects of the design.  When I make cards for the shop I tend to make the components in batches and then during another work session, I can put them together. This part I can play around with more options. Sometimes, it’s using other tools to enhance the layout and design of the cards. Sometimes it’s choosing embellishments or adding dimension to the layout. It’s very satisfying because I typically complete the project and have a finished product in my hand.

I hope you had a wonderful day!

Filed Under: Belinda's Crafts, Projects, WIP Wednesday Tagged With: , ,

Happy Monday – Where do I find inspiration?

March 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Where do I find inspiration? Sometimes, I will be in my favorite place, nature and sometimes I find it in the aisles of the supermarket or in this instance Target. The box for this candle caught my eye. I thought how the yellow color made me feel happy and I liked the pairing with the lavender color.

Sometimes I only pull the color combinations and other times I want to emulate the design in some way. So after taking the candle out, I kept the box. I have had this box for a few months. But I wait for the inspiration to really work its magic and waited for the right moment to use it.

This weekend I was on Zoom crafting with my friends and I started pulling out spring supplies. By the way, Happy Spring!! I had this stamp set for a bit and wanted to play around with it. Then I thought about the box and knew that now is the time to see what I could do with it.

I pulled out my brushes and some Distress Oxide inks and I emulated the design and color of the box for a background. I then grabbed my Copic markers and after stamping up the image I colored the flowers.

The sentiment just felt so right. How many times, do you lay your head down on the pillow only to hear that inner voice criticize your efforts for that day? Well, this card is here to remind you that you are enough today. I really love this sentiment because it addresses the feelings of inadequacy in our daily lives.

I made several backgrounds and colored up several images so I think I will complete them and consider them for the spring inventory.

Where do you find your inspiration?

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Good Morning Monday – Handling mundane tasks

November 8, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Good morning! The clocks have changed and I’m all messed up with the rest of the poor souls that must adjust to the daylight savings arrangement. Yesterday I started yawning at 6:30 and at 7 pm I felt like I was ready for bed!!! It gets dark by 5 and I feel very rushed. But enough about that, today is gorgeous. It is so bright and sunny and the temperature is rising as I type.

Running an Etsy shop is a lot of fun but there are tasks that are a little less glamorous. Today is one of those days, in which I am working on creating more card bases for new cards. As a one-person shop, I learned a long time ago that in order to speed up my production, I have to create systems that support the process of creation. One of those tasks that make the process run more smoothly is creating card bases in batches. So I will dedicate an hour or so to cutting high-quality cardstock and scoring them in preparation for cardmaking.

As we are fast-moving towards the winter holiday season, I decided I would like to put a few Christmas and winter-themed cards in my shop. Ordinarily, I would have all of them completed by now and would be marketing them on social media. However, this being my first year back, I am unfortunately behind which means I probably won’t capture the holiday sales as I would like.

I am always surprised by the joy I continue to have learning new techniques and buying new products and I realize that first and foremost, I am a crafter and that I still enjoy creating with my hands just for the fun of it. Despite the boatload of Christmas-themed stamps and products I currently own, I did manage to do a little shopping. This pile of new goodies is waiting for me to play with them before I commit some to new cards. So I am keeping the pile on the corner of my desk as I work on the card bases almost as an incentive.

One thing that I like to do when doing something that can be a bit monotonous such as cutting, scoring, and folding cards, is to listen to a good audiobook. It makes the time go by so quickly and I get some reading time in. Today, I am starting a new book by the incredible Stacey Abrams. It’s a legal thriller and I own the book but also have the audiobook for those hands-free moments like this.

I hope you are having a lovely Monday!

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Inky Play Friday – Playin’ with my Copics!

November 5, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Happy Inky Play Friday! I set my distress inks aside for a Copic coloring session. I have this fantastic stamp of a grouping of pumpkins that I bought earlier this year. Autumn makes me think of fluffy blankets, beautiful tea mugs, and pumpkins. We used to carve pumpkins when my boys were younger but as they have lost interest, I moved on to baking with pumpkins. I have a yummy pumpkin cookie recipe that totally fills the house with an amazing aroma.

After stamping the images and letting them dry, I went on my Silhouette and designed then print and cut the sentiments so I can use these on some cards. I printed it in a couple of different colors so that I could have options.

I love finding color combinations for things in nature. I went onto Pinterest to look for pumpkin pictures and to see what color combinations I could find before coloring them. The contrast in this inky play versus the distress inks is so pronounced. When I use the distress inks there is less precision and a lot of random results but with my Copics, I can control the color better. Some days it’s nice to have more control but I am loving stretching my comfort zone with less predictable mediums.

Next, I used a really cool leaf embossing folder to create a dimensional backdrop for the pumpkin display. I decided to create them in a couple of different colors to see how it changes the mood of the cards.

I used my dimensional dots to raise the pumpkin image on the front of the card. They are so much fun to use and they really made the image pop.

I am going to continue to color some more today and try out the different backgrounds.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Filed Under: Belinda's Crafts, Projects Tagged With: , , ,
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