FaveCrafts

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FaveCrafts Giveaway: Paper Smooches Stamp Collection

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Paper-Smooches-Stamp-CollectionI love creating my own handmade cards to send to family and friends. Sometimes a little handmade note can go a long way in showing someone how much you care, and there’s no better way to create your own cute and adorable cards than with these stamp sets from Paper Smooches.

These 5 whimsical and cute designs are perfect for decorating cards, tags, scrapbooks, and so much more. From cute icons and animals to fun borders and blocks, these stamp kits are versatile and fun to mix and match.

Here’s a closer look at these adorable stamp sets:

  • Bee Mine: Great for Valentine’s Day or just to send some love to a friend or family member, this stamp set comes with several cute love bugs, as well as a variety of sentiments and smaller stamps.
  • Borderlicious: The Borderlicious stamp set is great for adding all kinds of borders to your cards and scrapbooks.
  • Cuteasaurus: This is one of my favorite stamp sets! With 4 super cute dinosaurs, as well as a variety of other prehistoric themed stamps, this set is great for kids and adults alike.
  • Artisan Blocks: These Artisan Blocks are great to use separately or all together. With a variety of patterns, including honeycomb, chevron, polka dot, and stripes, this set is great for adding a background to your design or making one-of-a-kind tags for favors or gifts.
  • Surf and Turf: Whales, fish, seahorses, crabs, and pelicans are some of the creatures you’ll see in this under the sea stamp set.

Kids and adults of all ages will love these stamps, and since they’re photopolymer stamps that can be adhered to a clear stamping block, creating your own designs and lining up borders and blocks is nearly fool-proof. Each set of Paper Smooches stamps is drawn out by hand by artist Kim Hughes, and all the stamp sets are made right here in the USA. If you’re looking for a unique and fun way to add some whimsical touches to your paper crafting, you’re going to love this collection of stamp sets from Paper Smooches!

 

Wanna win this collection of Paper Smooches stamps?

Head on over to the giveaway page and register to win!  You have until September 20th to enter, and you can enter to win once a day…so the more you return, the greater your chances of winning this awesome giveaway!  You can also gain additional entries by blogging about this giveaway or talking about it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.  Get all the info at the Paper Smooches Giveaway page!  Good luck!

 

 

FaveCrafts Giveaway: Lawn Fawn Paper and Stamp Collection!

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In a day and age when ecards and text messages have dominated our conversations, I find such joy and pleasure being able to make cards for my friends and family. Handmade cards are a great way to show someone how much you care, and creating your own adorable card designs is easy and fun with the help of Lawn Fawn stamps and paper.

 

I am head over heels in love with Lawn Fawn. These cute and whimsical designs are perfect for adding a special touch to all your paper crafting projects. Available in large and small collections, these photopolymer clear stamp sets are designed to inspire you. Cute critters and a variety of font designs make these stamp sets great for crafters of all ages, and you’ll love how easy and fun they are to use!

And the thing I love the most about these paper packs is the versatility of these paper sheets. Although each kit is themed for fall and winter, you could easily use several sheets in both collections any time of year. Polka dots, stripes, unique patterns, and simple artistic designs make these two collections great for year round paper crafting.

 

If you love creating your own cards, tags, and scrapbook pages, you’re going to love the wide variety of stamp designs and scrapbook paper that Lawn Fawn has to offer. From every day collections to sets that are perfect for Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, and even Teacher Appreciation, Lawn Fawn never fails to amaze!

 

Wanna win this awesome collection of products from Lawn Fawn?

Head on over to the giveaway page and register to win today!  You have until September 13th to enter, and you can enter to win once a day, so the more you return, the greater your chances of winning this awesome giveaway.  You can also gain additional entries by blogging about this giveaway or talking about it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.  Head on over to the giveaway page and register to win today!  Good luck!

 

AllFreeHolidayCrafts Giveaway: Stamp It! DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps

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Stamp It!Jenny Doh, the author of Stamp It! DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps, can create a handmade stamp from almost any material, whether it be a pencil eraser, potato, or a rubber stamp. In Stamp It! DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps, you’ll unlock a similar talent with the help of each detailed, and sensible tutorial. This book, from Lark Crafts, is perfect for any crafter looking to learn the basics of using the stamping method to create designs. This collection of around 45 different projects all adds up to show you how to make gift tags, cupcake toppers, cards, favors, and more. With this amazing guide, customizing gift wrap or party decor has never been easier.

Some of the tutorials that can be found in Stamp It! DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps, include handmade gift bags, paper snow globes, sticker clips, jam jar labels, office supply boxes, doily-inspired cupcake holders, and many more. You’ll be able to take your pick from an enormous selection of craft projects, all of which are simple to learn. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner, the tutorials included in this book will be a fun and rewarding experience for you.


AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com is giving away one copy of Stamp It! DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps to one lucky winner. You could win!

Learn more and enter to win here.

Contest ends June 11, 2013. You can enter once daily, return often to improve your chances of winning!

 

FaveCrafts Giveaway: Imagine Inks and Stamp Pads

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inks
Adding color to your paper, fabric, and wood crafts doesn’t have to be limited to markers and colored pencils. There’s a much easier way to get beautiful colors, lush and professional blending, and it comes in a bottle no bigger than your thumb!

The inks and stamp pads from Imagine Crafts are so easy and fun to use that it’s hard to imagine my life without them now! My cards and scrapbooks have blossomed with beautiful embellishments and colors, and I love how these strong and vibrant colors really make my projects come to life.

The StazOn Opaque stamp pad is specially designed for use on plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, polymer clay, and glossy cardstock. This ink and pad set is great for adding opaque colors to your projects, and colors can be mixed and matched for a unique effect. All you need to do is about a teaspoon of liquid ink to the pad and you’re ready to go. Best of all, a teaspoon of ink should last you about 500 impressions…so a little goes a long way! Each pad also comes with a protective inner cover to prevent your pad from drying out and little labels so you can easily keep track of what color is on each pad.

To give your work a more antique look, there’s Walnut Ink Spritzers. Available in packs of 2, these inks are in a spray bottle, perfect for using on all craft surfaces. For rich backgrounds, you can mix and match colors to create something truly unique! This is a great way to add that final touch to a project that just needs a little something more.

Finally, for all your crafting needs, there’s the All-Purpose Ink work station. This kit comes with a ton of fun ink colors (12 to be exact), as well as a container of GlazOn (which prevents your colors from bleeding together), sponges, brushes, ink droppers, blending tools, and more! This is the ultimate kit for fans of stamping and crafting.

If you’ve been itching to play around with color, ink, and paint in your paper and fabric crafts, you have to try the new inks and stamp sets from Imagine Crafts. With a variety of inks, easy to use tools, and colors that will make any project stand out, the inks and pads from Imagine Crafts are new staples to my crafting stash, and I can’t wait to learn more about how I can put these amazing products to use!

 

Wanna win this awesome collection of inks and pads?

We’re giving away this collection to one lucky winner!  You have until May 31st to enter, and you can enter to win once a day, so the more you return, the greater your chances of winning this collection!  You can also gain additional entries by blogging about this giveaway or talking about it on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.  Find all the details at the giveaway page!  Good luck!

Sending Thanks with Homemade Holiday Cards

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It’s a new year, which means it’s time to start fresh with your crafting. If you’re still not sure of where to start, look back to the holiday season for inspiration. Many of you received some special gifts from your loved one, which means there are probably plenty of people left to thank. This is the perfect situation to get crafty in, as you can use some of the homemade Christmas card crafts we’ve added on AllFreeChristmasCrafts as thank you cards to send out your gratitude and good wishes for a great new year.

Zig Zag Stitched Thank You Cards – This card immediately stands out for its use of fabric. If you’re someone who likes to work with different patterns and materials, you’ll be happy to see that your extra scraps won’t have to go to waste. Challenge your sewing skills and really impress someone special.

Photo Slider Card – If you saved a photograph of you and your loved one that you’d like to share, include it in your thank you card. A tutorial like this can be great for many other events throughout the year, so now is the perfect time to see the secret behind the slider.

Embossed Christmas Cards – Got some new die cuts just begging to be used? Then you’ll want to see the video tutorial we’ve got for these beautiful embossed cards. You can produce intricate designs in a matter of minutes, so making a whole stack of cards will cost you next to nothing and will have your personal touch.

 

Crochet Christmas Cards – For a truly unique Christmas card, find some shimmering thread and get ready to crochet. You can touch up an old card or create something original; either way, whoever receives this will certainly remember it once they see how creative you were with your yarn skills.

 

Stamped Holiday Postcard –  Postcards are another fun way for people to sending their greetings to each other, and now you can make your own using your favorite holiday stamps. This is another example of how saving money by making your own handmade cards is not only cost effective, but beneficial to your crafting skills and those who receive your high quality designs.

Christmas Pop Up Card – Another style of handmade Christmas cards that’s very popular and will make very fun thank you cards are pop up cards. They’ll immediately get attention, which will make the little message you can include inside even more enjoyable.

 

The new year will start with smiles for your friends and family once they receive the wonderful homemade Christmas cards you’ve made yourself. If you’ve seen something you like or want even more card ideas, check out our page for handmade Christmas cards.

How do you say thanks after the holidays?

FaveCrafts Giveaway: Paper Smooches Stamps

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paper-smooches[1]When I first heard about Paper Smooches Stamps, I couldn’t to check out their product line.  Sketched entirely by hand, these adorable stamps are made in the USA from the highest quality photopolymer.  Artist Kim Hughes calls her line of stamps “a labor of love”, and her personality definitely shines through in these whimsical and adorable collections!

I was lucky enough to review three stamp sets by Paper Smooches:  Cyber Café, Freezy Fellas, and Knick Knacks.  Each set of stamps comes with about 20 pieces, and can be used to create adorable cards, scrapbook pages, wrapping paper, and so much more!
If you love stamping and creating fun and cute cards for your friends, or you’re just looking for a reason to smile today, you just have to check out Paper Smooches stamps by Kim Hughes.

 

Wanna win the “Knick Knacks” Stamp Set?

 

Head on over to the giveaway page and register to win today. You have until January 18th to enter, and you can enter to win once a day…so the more you return, the greater your chances of winning this awesome giveaway! You can also gain additional entries by blogging about this giveaway or talking about it on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. Get all the info at the Paper Smooches Stamp Set giveaway page! Good luck!

How to Make Faux Fall Leaves

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Hello FaveCrafts readers, my name is Latrice Murphy. Today I have a fun fall tutorial to share with you on how to create faux leaves with stamps, embossing powder and ink. It’s a fun technique that I’ve used in both my card making and on scrapbook pages. Let’s get to it.

Materials:

  • Cardstock: Hero Arts
  • Patterned Paper: Crate Paper Farmhouse
  • White cardstock: Neenah
  • Inks: Wild Honey, Antique Linen and Gathered Twigs (Ranger) Versamark (Tsukineko)
  • Embossing powder: Ranger
  • Shimmer Spray: Tattered Angels
  • 3D adhesive: EK Success
  • Circle cutter of your choice

First you want to stamp and emboss your leaf image in either black, copper or clear embossing powder. This part is up to you. This is what each one those would look like. You can also simply stamp it with ink. I love the texture the embossing gives the leaf.

Next grab some fall colors from your ink pile. My favorite are the Tim Holtz and Ranger Distress inks. I used Gathered Twigs, Barn Door and Wild Honey.

Next add your colors with the applicator. Don’t worry about blending them at this point. Just make sure they are covered completely with a good mix of the three.

To finish the leaves off you’ll spray them with either plain water or a shimmer mist of your choice. This will blend the colors even more and add shimmer too. I created a simple card using this technique. On my leaf I tapped the back of the paper to get most of the embossing powder off so that the texture was subtle. I cut my leaf out with some precision scissors and curled the tips for dimension.

 

How to Make a Card Using Faux Leaves:

  1. Make your card from Hero Arts Layering Papers. I chose a yellow.
  2. Using a circle cutter cut two circles of the same size from patterned paper.
  3. Cut a third circle from white cardstock a little larger.
  4. Ink the edges of the patterned paper circles and adhere to card. Trim excess off.
  5. Ink the third circle with Antique linen and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks and adhere to center of card.
  6. To create the leaf, stamp the leaf image in Versamark, emboss with black and ink with Wild Honey, Fired Brick and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks.
  7. Heat set Inks and spritz with shimmer spray of your choice.
  8. Cut leaf out, curl edges with a bone folder and adhere to center circle.
  9. Create a banner from white cardstock, ink edges, stamp sentiment in brown and adhere using both dry adhesive and 3D dots.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my tutorial. I hope that you try this today and whip up some fun and fabulous cards or projects with your created faux leaves.

How to Start Stamping

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Stamping is by far one of the most versatile craft techniques (you can make scrapbooks, cards and so much more!), but it’s also one of the most intimidating to learn!  I know that personally I’ve always wanted to learn how to stamp, but it seems so daunting.  What kinds of stamps do I need to buy?  How exactly do I use them?  What’s the best way to stamp on a handmade card versus stamping on a scrapbook layout?  Well, I decided to face my fear and dig into the world of stamping.  Here’s what I found out: it’s not that hard at all!  Keep reading to find answers to all those questions swirling around in your head!

Basic Stamp Craft Supplies:

If you’ve just decided to take up stamping, you’re in luck!  Stamping is one of those crafts that requires very few supplies, so your wallet can rest easy on this one.  Here are the basics that you will need to get started stamping.  Once you begin playing around with different techniques and projects, you’ll have a better idea of what other supplies you might want to invest in down the line.  For now, here’s what you’ll need:

Easy Stamping Tips and Techniques:

Whether you’re going to be stamping with ink, markers or paint, there are a few tips you’ll want to know ahead of time.  Below we’ve rounded up some of our best advice and hope you’ll check it out before you start stamping!

How to Use Rubber Stamps for Your Craft Projects

How to Work with Clear Stamps

How to Stamp with Paint

Guide to Inks, Ink Pads and Re-Inkers

How to Make Your Own Stamps

Simple Beginner Stamping Crafts:

    

Super Easy Stamped Christmas Cards — Make these in minutes!

Adorable Embellished Easter Card — Use a cute chick stamp to make a variety of Easter greetings!

Paint and Stamp Treasure Box — Decorate a storage container using your new stamping skills!

How to Stamp: Video Tutorials

Want to learn a quick and easy way to get the perfect stamped image every time?  Just watch this stamping craft tutorial and find out a tried and true trick from one of our craft experts!  You won’t believe how simple it can be to improve your stamping technique!

Now that you have the basics of stamping down, you can move on to more advanced techniques!  One of my favorites is masking; it’s a great way to give your homemade cards and scrapbook layouts some extra dimension, and it’s not at all hard to do!  Just watch this video tutorial and learn how to master the masking technique of rubber stamping!

I hope I’ve inspired you to tackle a new craft, or to perfect your technique if you’re already into stamping!  I love using stamps to make my scrapbooks more elaborate and they’re also really handy when making holiday cards, but did you know there are more than 100 other things you can do with stamps?!  We’ve collected 125 ideas of things to stamp and you won’t believe some of the amazing ways you can put your stamp set to use!

Also, don’t forget that March is National Craft Month and every single day we’re having a giveaway contest where you could win an awesome prize!  Just check out today’s Project of the Day post and find out how to enter.

What’s your favorite thing to make with stamps?

FaveCrafts Radio Podcast, November 2011 Recap

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FaveCrafts Radio is a monthly radio show hosted by Pat Sloan. Pat interviews your favorite craft experts and celebrities and they offer tips about and discuss some of their favorite projects on FaveCrafts.com. FaveCrafts Radio airs live on BlogTalkRadio on the first Wednesday afternoon of each month from 3 – 4:00 pm (ET) (2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, noon Pacific). Archived podcasts can be streamed directly from the website or downloaded for free through iTunes. Visit FaveCraftsRadio.com.

Listen now to the November FaveCrafts Radio show.

Suzann Sladcik Wilson from Beadphoria talked about what she loves about beaded jewelry. She gave some hints about buying the best beads and what to look for. She shared some great projects like this Charm Bracelet and explained how to use a head pin to attach the charms to the bracelet. There is also a brand new book by Suzann called Simple Beginnings Beading for people who want to get started in beading. If you are looking for places to get inspired, she also shares some of her favorite spots.

Crafter, Keri Lee Sereika from Pink Lemonade joined us to share some awesome projects. Her Clay Button Tutorial is a great way for stampers to try their hand at clay. With just a few simple steps, you can create your own customized button. Keri also shares information about her new book on coloring stamped images with colored pencils, chalks, or alcohol ink markers.

If you love crochet, then you will love our next guest, Ellen Gormley of Go Crochet. She talks about granny squares and gives great tips on joining them and how to work with that extra tail. Her easy tips will have those squares joined into an afghan in no time. Her Crocheted Flashlight Holder is a quick project that is cute for any time of the year and perfect as a water bottle holder. Her Crochet Tote bag would be great for anyone on your holiday list without the spider.

Jonathon Fong from Style With A Smile TV is a super energetic crafter and stylist.  He explains to Pat his facination with paint chips and his cool Paint Chip Gift Box with Bows that he creates and you can too with his easy step-by-step instructions. And if you are looking for a way to change up your home decor, you can try your hand at the Decoupage Chair which features fine art posters to add art and color to your home. Jonathon finds lots of inspiration on blogs and shopping. Listen to him explain how his life fuels his craft and so much more.

And with all the FaveCrafts news, Linda Augsburg joined the show and talked to Pat about her trip to Quilt Market and what she loved best. And if you are shopping for your crafty friends this holiday season (or yourself), you may want to take advantage of the eCraft die cutting machine special bundle package. And if you are looking for new ideas for the holidays, we have several new free eBooks:
24 Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes and Fall Craft Projects
23 Gingerbread House Designs and Recipes
22 Free Crochet Patterns: Afghan Patterns, Crochet Hats, and More
Deck the Halls: 8 Free Christmas Quilt Patterns
7 Easy DIY Christmas Crafts: Make Your Own Ornaments, Wreaths and More!
8 Unique Christmas Decorations to Make

Listen now to the November FaveCrafts Radio show.
Tune in to our show next month’s show on December 7th.

 

 

 

 

How to Mask: Cardmaking and Scrapbooking

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Are you guys into card making or scrapbooking? My hunch is no–we seem to be more of a crochet and knitting group. Paper crafters, feel free to say hi in the comments, though! I wasn’t much of a card maker either until I started looking at some of the project ideas on FaveCrafts and seeing how easy they might be to replicate. I mean, anyone can cut out shapes (either with scissors, a paper punch, or a Cricut), and anyone can adhere embellishments to a piece of cardstock, especially with the help of glue dots. I soon learned that you can even make your own embellishments if you want to save money in the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store.

Card making is one of those crafts that everyone has dabbled in at some point–we’ve all got to give cards to friends and family on their birthday, and a good number of us give cards on Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Mother’s Day, and other special occasions. We’ve got lots of cardmaking technique videos on our YouTube channel that could turn even the most novice paper crafter (i.e. me) into a real card making maven.

One of the techniques I learned from our very own YouTube channel is masking. Ever heard of it? Me neither! Masking means blocking off part of an image when using rubber stamps so that the blocked-off (or “masked”) portion does not get stamped. Clear as mud, right? This video by Latrice Murphy explains it a lot better! You can watch the whole thing to see how she makes that adorable bunting and cupcake card, or just watch through the first 3 minutes to learn the technique.

And if you don’t feel like watching a video, don’t have the capabilities of viewing one on your computer, or you’re reading FaveCrafts at work and don’t want the boss to find out (shhh, I won’t tell!), I’ll break it down for you:

How to Mask

  1. First stamp the image you want to mask onto a piece of scratch paper and cut it out. In the video, Latrice stamps a bunting stamp and cuts out each individual triangle.
  2. Then stamp the same image onto your card or scrapbook page. Latrice stamped the same image in the corner of her card using the bunting stamp.
  3. Take the cut out shapes (the “masks”) and adhere them to your card or scrapbook page, right on top of the stamped area. Removable or re-positionable adhesive works best for this step.
  4. Now that your image is masked, you can feel free to stamp over it. In the video, Latrice stamps her card with a cloud background so that the bunting looks like it’s in front of the clouds, like real bunting billowing in the breeze.
  5. When you’re done stamping, remove the masks and you’ll see the unstamped section beneath (in this case, the cloudless bunting shapes).

Doesn’t that sound easy? For all of you non-paper crafters–doesn’t this video make you want to give it a try? What’s the most involved card making technique you’ve ever used?

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