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

Happy Birthday to my blog...and a free giveaway to celebrate

wow it's amazing to think a whole year has gone by since i started this blog. I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me emails and left encouraging messages, i appreciate them all. God has blessed our family and taken me on some strange and a little hard to understand journeys this year but all have a purpose in the great scheme of God's plan for our lives. So to celebrate my blogs first birthday I'm giving away the whole set of my patterns that are for sale to one lucky winner...want to play...all you have to do is print off this cake pattern make it up into a card to suit any occasion any way you like and email me a copy along with your name...and at the end of 2 weeks the name of a card sent in will be picked at random to win all 48 of my patterns i have for sale. Ill add pics of these cards to this post over the 2 weeks as you send them to me. Id love to see your creations.


We had a picnic lunch today after church and enjoyed these chocolate cupcakes if you'd like the recipe go here and just add 1/2 cup of coco.


...have a great day....Luv Valita

thankyou Amy for your yummy cake card

another yummy card By Sue thanyou

and a couple of late commers this one from Ameila

and this one from Ingrid....thanks

and a last thought

This is good and pleases God our savior
for he longs for all to be saved
and understand his truth;
That God is on one side and all
the people on the other side,
and Christ Jesus, himself man, is
between them to bring them together,
by giving his life for all mankind.
1 Timothy 2:3-6

Cute santa box / card

Hi all, well the hype of Beth's formal is over and life goes on .....Beth has been doing a lot of sleeping since then and letting her brain have a rest!. Our son Ben has just finished his year 10 school certificate exams and work experience with a glass company so he's at home too also doing a lot of sleeping but i love there company at home they are constantly asking "what's for dinner mum?" but i don't mind ........i love this little triangular box its so quick and easy to make and can be decorated in so many ways. We did this with the ladies at my classes on Monday....

the instructions for the box can be found here. the tree was just as easy layering colours. and here's our second card.....

I used oil pastels to colour the Holly....go here to one of my older posts and see how.....and a close up pic of the bauble... just 3 different size circle punches and a swirl punch for the hanger...easy!

so there you go get your teeth into some quick ideas this Christmas.......Valita

and a last thought

So thanks be to God! for through
what Christ has done, he has triumphed
over us so that now wherever we go
he uses us to tell others about the Lord
and to spread the gospel like a
sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned
there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives.
It is the fragrance of Christ within us,
an aroma to both the saved and unsaved
all around us.

Beth's Formal pics

The night was fantastic, Beth was awarded for first in Music plus a book called Ultimate leadership, 100% attendance Plus a medallion, school service award (school church time and outreach) plus a CD of Rebbecca st James. Teachers parents and relatives etc were invited and the food was great! such a proud moment for all of us and such a great school that is training our kids to love and trust God through all they do. It was raining all day so we didn't get to take pic's where she wanted but we made the best of our back yard.....enough of my rambling here's some pics isn't she gorgeous !!!
I can' explain how proud and blessed us we are, i hope you enjoy ..........Valita

and a last thought from Beth

God has made everything beautiful
for it's own time. He has planted eternity
in the human heart, but even so, people
cannot see the whole scope of God's
work from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Christmas box / Formal preperations

Hi all, ill be flat out busy later today with our daughter's Formal so i thought id post Mondays cards while i have a quiet moment. We made this cute little gift box that was snack easy!! you can find the step by step instruction here. I used the wreath cuttlebug emboss folder and die set to do the wreath for the front and circle nestabilities to create the hole to view whats in the box. we covered this with clear plastic. Have a go because they were so unbelievably quick to make. here's another view.

Our second card was a corner folding design. you can buy these patterns from my pattern blog

The ladies at card class are so lovely they presented me with this card for Beth to congratulate her... a very talented lady called Chris made this beautiful card thank you Chris and all the ladies this means alot....Beth loved it!!

Today is very exciting for Beth she's at this moment fluffing around for her Formal dinner tonight. I finished her necklace ....take a looky!!


and she's booked in to the hair dressers to have her hair done up and then later at the spoilt rotten beauty salon to have her face done. I made her this card for the occasion...the pattern was made by a lady called Ingrid from New Zealand.

Can't wait to post more pics after tonight...........Valita

and a last thought

Take care to live in me,
and let me live in you.
For a branch can't produce fruit
when severed from the vine.
Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
John 15:4