I took up the hobby of cardmaking a couple of months ago and am now completely hooked! My initial plan was to try scrapbooking but seeing as I had all the bits and bobs I thought I'd throw a few cards together and I'm now much more into this then I ever thought I would be.
I have an odd afternoon every now and then, surrounded by all my crafting kit and find it really therapeutic. A's took an interest too and has had lots of fun also making cards. I wasn't the most creative person when I first started out but with a bit of practice and a little help from various magazines and websites, I can see my cards are slowly getting more creative.
The only problem is, there are so many crafting goodies on the market to choose from you can end up spending a fortune! You really have to sit down and think about the kind of craft technique you want to use and then look at which tools/gadgets would be most useful.
Many of the cards I've made so far have been decoupage. This is a method of layering images which then gives you a 3D effect. This can be very time consuming as most of the decoupage creations I've made have been cut out by hand. The Beatrix Potter ones in particular were tricky (especially Jeremy Fisher!) as the figures were quite intricate. My
masterpiece so far has to be the decoupage Owl card I made for A's Brownie leaders when she finished back in the Summer (picture to follow soon!). Of course you can cheat and buy the pre-cut decoupage sheets which make life so much easier, but somehow not quite the same sense of achievement.
Hope you like a few pics of my handiwork so far :)
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There were some lovely free backing papers with my last couple of card making magazines so had a go at a few new designs this afternoon. Had a go at some new techniques using crushed paper circles to create flowers and inking paper edges to create a shabby chic effect.
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