inexpensive ways to colour your stamps

I really enjoy finding ways to colour your stamps in an inexpensive way. Here is a card i made recently and id like to show what i used.

For this tutorial you will need:


regular Crayola pencil
regular water colours
staZon ink pad
water colour brush

heres some pics of the ones I use. I can grantee you'll race off to the kids room and pull out those supplies you thought were only for the kids!
I use the SazOn ink as it is a permanent ink and wont run when you use the water colours. Stamp on your background in a random fashion.

next use the white crayola pencil to colour santas hat. Remember these pencil are a wax base and depending on how much pressure you put on them is how dark they will come out. Its good to experiment with that. I pressed these colours quite hard to get good coverage in circle motions. A tip i use the white pencil to mark my darker cards when making projects it handy to have.




Now you could leave it like this but i decided to colour the rest of the hat red even though the card was red it still had a great effect. The red just stands out that much better.

With the water colours i used a watery black and a scrap of paper as a pallet i could wipe off the excess darker paint. Go around the outside of each of the hats blending the colour out. This will make the hat pop out at you off the card.

and the finished background with added glitter.....

So really you don't have to have to use all the expensive fang dangle pens and colours to achieve a great result just learn to use what you may already have.
heres a couple more cards i make with the same water colour pallet.


I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and my find some some ways to take a few financial short cuts........Valita

and a last thought

But God's truth stands firm
like a great rock, and nothing can shake it.
It is a foundation stone.
2 Timothy 2:19

Santa Box Garland

something come over me the other morning and i made 10 of these cute little boxes.....inspired by Jill, you can find her tutorial here

The punches i used were:


Scallop, beard
Word window, hat brim
1/2" circle, nose
One 1/4" circle, face
1/4" circle, eyes
flower(2 petals), moe
3/4" circle, pom pom
sizzix belt buckle (not pictured here)
holly punch, hat

So i hung these up as a garland and they look so cute....... This post is for my friend Michelle so she can get the instructions....have fun with them Michelle!

and a last thought

Keep your eyes on Jesus
our leader and instructor.
Hebrews 12:2

The winners of my patterns.........

well its Saturday and two weeks since i first posted my birthday give away. two creative people took part in my challenge which I was a little disappointed seen as so many people read this blog but to keep a positive view point I'm sending both Sue and Amy (there cards shown here ) the full sets of all my patterns. I know you will enjoy them all so congrats to you both!!!!
here are some pics of the last of my card making lessons for 2008



We are also very proud of Our Son and youngest daughter who have both just had their awards night for 2008 at school. Madalaeine was awarded a scholarship of 2009 which pays a terms schooling and also a pursuit of excellence in mathematics. Ben was awarded a pursuit of excellence in information and software technolgy. we are so proud of them both.....heres some pics


Until next post stay safe and happy leading up to this christmas season.......Valita

and a last thought

The joy that the Lord gives
will make you strong.
Nehemiah 8:10