Pinterest finds...

Beautiful, pretty, simple, inspiring cards from many a talented crafter courtesy of Pinterest, of course!

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Card Layout & Design

The little canvas you have for creating your mini masterpiece is...well.....little. At times I know I can come up against creative brick walls in keeping my cards interesting and try to stay clear of creating the same type of design or layout. I often have those days where I enter the craft room, ready to make a huge range of cards, only to experiment, make and then.....toss away in the bin, unhappy with some of my mini creations!

As a creative person I look alot to shapes, textures and colour and daily I'm inspired by my surroundings and many types of artwork people all over the web are creating. I don't necessarily gain inspiration from other card makers but from a whole host artists and often jot down or photograph those snippets of curiosity and save them for another card making day!

A nifty way of keeping your cards up to date, fresh and of course buy-able is to pre plan the layout. Its a method I employ and sometimes I like just sitting in front of the TV on the sofa with my trusty sketchbook and markers and hours later I have numerous card layouts ready for creation. Using this method I find, allows you to get stuck into card making without delay and saves on your precious materials too!

Here you can see a peek of my layout ideas and how I've transformed a simple 2D drawing into a mini 3D wonder! I've added more embellishments to the card as I worked my way through it, but essentially using this technique allows you to get the basics right first time. There's nothing stopping you adding to the card once you've put the basic layout together...and the "bla, bla, bla, bla" section of the card? Well that's usually where I place or stamp a sentiment such as 'Happy Birthday'. Be sure to include space for the sentiment if you're hoping to add one. 

Setting time aside to pre plan your layouts wont eat too much into your crafting time, but it certainly will make you a tad more productive in the long run!

Day 2 - Christmas Card-athon Series 2011

For today's card I'm showing you how you can easily incorporate ribbon into any card. I did mention that I love embellishments, so over the course of the 25 day card-athon series you'll see lots of embellishments being used along the way!

Similar to yesterday, this is a very easy card to make. The only tricky bit is the tying of the ribbon and the stamping of the sentiment....in all honesty, even that's not to difficult! Tying the ribbon is like tying a shoe lace!

To start, select some red card stock (A4 in size) and fold in half. Cut straight down the fold and you're left with two pieces of equal length. Take one of those pieces and fold in half, now you have your blank card.

I've used the same paper range as shown to you yesterday and if you havn't already run out to buy it, a link can be found here.

Select some pieces of the card stock that you like and cut two strips about 3cm each in width. Attach them to the left hand side of the front of the card and then select your ribbon. When cutting ribbon, a good rule of thumb that I adhere to is to cut the ribbon about 2.5 times the length of the card, that way you'll have enough to tie the bow.

When adding the ribbon, cut with a craft knife, a small hole at the top so that the ribbon can easily slide through, thus allowing you to pull the ribbon through the card and tie it on the front. 

To finish, tie like a neat show lace and when done, cut off any excess ribbon with scissors. The ribbon I've used in this card was purchased in America last year so unfortunately I can't provide any links to the exact ribbon used, but I will recommend some places at the end of the tutorial.

Now to the fun part...embellishments! I used my snowflake punch once more to punch a few snowflakes from some scrap pieces and carefully decided were to put them before adhering to the card. To add some more depth, I've placed some tiny white pearls around the snowflakes, adding another dimension. To top it off, no luckyrainbow card is complete without white gel pen faux stitches.

To complete the card, I have used my corner punch tool (available from all good craft shops) to corner one edge of the card. Sometimes its fun / different just to corner edge one side like I've done with this card.

To finish I've stamped a "Merry Christmas" sentiment with black ink. This stamp was purchased from America on Etsy. I really find the best tools, stamps and papers are in America and when I visited NYC last December I brought home a suitcase full of  Christmas stock ready to use to this year! I'm anything if not prepared.

So there you go....one joyful and very red Christmas card to send to someone special!

Tomorrow, I'll be showing you an embossing technique on an alternative type of paper! A little more trickier but a useful technique nonetheless!

Ribbon Suppliers as promised:

Cara Craft Supplies

Cork Art Supplies

See you tomorrow for Day 3!

Day 1 - Christmas Card-athon Series 2011

I've kickstarted the Christmas card-athon series with a very easy card. I don't know about you, but at the end of a days / week / months crafting I am always left with oodles of scraps of paper. Because the paper I buy is expensive, I tend to keep all the pieces that I know can be used again. I store them in a particular space, but nine times outta ten they never see the light of day again! If you look at this storage space of scraps as physical money, you'd probably be more likely to use them again...eh?

Given Christmas will be harder on everyone this year as the recession is still in full swing, I've created a card that uses minimal amounts of paper, thus making your paper selection go that bit further!

To get started (and to make life that bit easier) just buy a pack of blank cards which you can get from your local craft shop pretty cheaply. This saves you time and saves you cutting card stock.

Grab all your scraps and bits and pieces and before you go sticking anything down, make sure the paper is somewhat colour co-ordinated. In this instance I have chosen the typical Chistmas colours of red and green.

Once you have decided on your scrap pieces, have fun with the layout. Move the pieces around the blank card, perhaps tilt them at an angle like I have done below, experiment with shapes and think of your card as a blank canvas and a mini work of art! Experiment with the paper, fold it, tear it...play with it! You'll love the results!

One you're happy with your layout, carefully stick all the items down. When done, think to yourself "Is there anything more I can add?" I love playing around with embellishments and have jars of stock lying around the craft room. To finish my card, I've tied some red twine to a shiny red button and glued it down. I've also punched a snowflake from some spare scrap stock and added it as a finishing touch.

Punches are invaluable tools if you love card making as much as I do. I have the snowflake tool a number of years now and while I'm not 100% sure where I purchased it, I think it may have been from Silkes in Limerick.

To finish, I have stamped a 'Christmas Greetings' sentiment in black ink and used a gold gel pen to create faux stitches, a little signature which is usually found on all of my cards.

There you have it! - Easy-Peasy, especially if you consider yourself to be  one of those non-creative types! Have a go!

Want to make your own?

Here are some links to get you started!

Christmas Card Stock curtosy of the Echo Park Company

Punches! - A card makers dream tool!

Blank Card Stock

Ink for stamping!

See you tomorrow for Day 2!

Christmas Card-athon 2011

Tommorrow I'll be launching the 2011 Christmas Card-athon series! Over 25 days, I will upload a new handmade Christmas card and share with you a few pointers about how you can make your own and hopefully inspire you to get out there and make a few for your nearest and dearest!

Considering it's huge blogging task, I've already gotten started and have the first ten ready to go! A girl is gotta be prepared!

The best bit...at the end of the 25 days, I'll give a luckyrainbow follwer the chance to win a selection of the cards, call it an early Christmas gift! I'm looking forward to the event and I hope you all get something from it! Feel free to share with others!

Happy Crafting & I'll see you all again tomorrow!

Mmmmm

Mmmm, Rainbow Cake!

I wonder how it tastes?



Life before the Internet...

In this day and age I have little patience for those who cannot work a computer, don't understand what google is or how it works and take twenty minutes (over the phone) asking questions about how to log into a facebook account. (Incase you're wondering, I'm referring to my mother!)

So it got me thinking and reminising about life before the internet......back in the day (How old does that statement make me sound!), around the age of 14 or 15 when I started seeing....ahem...boys! Standard protocal said that if you were interested in each other then you would exchange home phone numbers and this in turn usually meant organising a time for you to be home in order to receive the call.

I have a strong memory of being in a local disco ( The Glen in Dundalk!!...ah memories!) where a boy wanted my phone number for his friend. (Oh asking a girl out for your friend.....that was standard too!) He asked me as we were leaving to get our taxi, so in a rush I kept shouting the number so he could remember it for his friend and even suggested he got a pen and paper! It worked out......his friend called, we met up and we were stuck together for about a year!

In my house, I was lucky in that we had a couple of phones around the house so I could take calls upstairs without having to whisper in the hallway so my parents didn't hear me! However if you called someone and they were not at home....well then they weren't home.......leave a message or try again later! No chance to send an email, a text, post a Facebook message.....nada!

1997 is the year I can remember being interested and fascinated by the idea of the internet! The fact that you could 'go online' and connect with anyone in the world really excited me and when a friend of a boyfriend got a computer and a dial up internet connection I would insist that we would hang out there so that we could 'surf the net'. I even got excited by the sound of the dial up connection......yup I was THAT sad!

An internet shop......not a cafe but a small shop with about 10 computers where you could pay to use the internet popped up in my home town and I would spend hours in there. Looking back I'm not even sure what sites I was browsing but needless to say I was amused by it all! A friend then got a computer that Christmas and I was so jealous, it wasn't funny! I nagged my parents to get me a computer but at the time, they didn't understand what the  fuss was about or the importance of being connected to the world!

These days I'm still as obsessed with the internet as I was in those early days! I love how you can find everything and anything that you need within a click, can connect to a whole world of interesting people (which I have done via all things Etsy) and how the word google has become a verb and part of everyday vocab!...Just 'google' it! This sentenance irrates my mother to her core...."What's google?" she asks....I've tried explaining it to her in the most simple of terms but I'm getting no where! :)

Still though......I don't know what I did before the internet.

Ode to summer!

Hope you all had a lovely and choc-tastic Easter!!

Time to crack open those summer papers and create some fun, bright colourful cards, all of which will brighten up your day...I hope! Sunshine, butterflies, energetic greens all to lift your day and make you smile!

Shot in my new studio (for now!)....the back garden!! As always, this little number will be available from my etsy store within the next few days! Stop on by and share the love or leave a comment below! :)

Enjoy! :)

Yesterday I heart-ed..

....sunshine!

The forecast said 20 degrees plus for Sunday, August 15th and so it began. "We have to get up early" Robert said, "We have to beat the crowds!" Robert said......"Come on, Come on!!!!" Robert said...again! For those of you who don't live in Ireland, the phenomenon of sun, (yes it is a phenomenon!) is an event in itself. A rare event that we greet with open and sun lotion-ed sticky arms! We grab the best beach towels we have from the hot press, root through our winter clothing for those linen trousers you bought just incase we got "a bitta sun!", throw together the bare bones of a picnic (flask of tay and a few hang sandwiches (tea and ham sandwiches)) and off we go...to the beach, praying to the high sun gods that no else has thought of going there today........except everyone has had the same idea as you and before you know it, you're scrambling for a car space, driving round and round the car park looking for someone, anyone to pull out and get a much sought after space!

Then you have to get the perfect beach space, somewhere with a bit of shade....yes shade! We wait months and months on end for the sun only to leg it to the beach and get some shade! We are a funny bunch! However there are legitimate reasons for said piece of shade! We don't tan.....at all, or at least I don't! Instead we turn a tomato shed or red, experience some agony for a few days which can only be relived by after sun chilled in the freezer and then we return to our natural colour of white.....milky white.

Needless to say, I can't wait for our next day of sun!

De-Stash Giveaway Winner!!!!

Hey Everyone!

Thank you sooo much to everyone who entered the LuckyRainbowDesign de-stash blog giveaway! I was crazy pleased with the 18 entries and my new 18 followers! I decided the best way to draw a winner would be to make a little video on my snazzy phone!! I really hope this works! My technology skills are seriously lacking since I left Art College.

I really loved making this mini video, so much so I may invest in a video camera and make more!! Excuse my over blinking.....don't ask me why I did that!! AND I hope I'm not speaking too fast!!! (My mother always complains that I do!) Alos, have a wee laugh at the end where I struggle for a few seconds to turn off the camera!! Ha ha, Watch out Stephen Spielberg!

*Congrats* to the winner, I'll let you all watch the video to find out who the lucky person is! :)

Male Birthday Cards....

....... are usually a card crafters nightmare! (or so it says on many a blog I've read!) The difficultly lies in that you can't use all your girly, colourful patterns that you've gathered up. Nor can you punch out some funky glittery butterflies and top them off with gems and pearls etc!

Instead you're limited to muted colours and usually pictures of golfers or grown men on sail boats!....All together now...YAWN!.....So I've decided to try and focus a bit more on the male population and try to improve my cards for them!

I recently made this little card and experimented with the paper by folding and cutting it, generally creating a 3D effect like I do with most of my cards. I added some twine and plain cream ribbon and hey presto! I'd be happy to pass this on to a male friend, would you?

Ideas / opinions on a blogger comment please! :)

Etsy shop update!

So I've set myself a little challenge!

I have the next four days off work (and I've just had the last two off) so I'm setting myself the challenge of listing at least 20 items in my etsy shop! I recently noticed that I had HEAPS of Thank You cards and considering that someone, somewhere celebrates their birthday everyday I thought I better get cracking on some more titles and hey presto, here is a sneaky peek of what is to come!

It was such a joy to create these little gems! The hours just flew by in my ickle studio! I really like to have a 3D effect to my cards so I started to experiment a little more with paper. Some pieces of paper were turned into leaves others were twisted and folded! It all adds to the handmade effect in my opinion!

On a separate note some of the Etsy Ireland team are meeting in Limerick tomorrow! Infact we're having a getaway and everyone is staying over night! I'm looking forward to showing everyone round our great city with Ruth from NiceDay Designs! Limerick gets such a bad and unfair reputation from the media I always love showing off its best bits when friends arrive!

Once our day (and night) of fun fun fun is over and done with, I'll update you all with some craft goss and photos!

Happiness is.......

.....going back to college! (yikes!) I've been accepted onto a new Masters programme in the Limerick School of Art in Design and I'm happy to say I've accepted the place! Now queue really long MA title.....ahem I shall be studying for a Masters in Art & Design in Social Practice & The Creative Environment! or MAD SPACE for short!! crazy eh? I've decided to return on a part time basis and reduce my hours to a four day week in my full time position, so quite likely LuckyRainbowDesigns will become more of a hobby and Etsy business for the next two years with the exception of Christmas, Easter, Summer holidays etc!

I'm looking forward to returning but at the same time I'm very nervous and slightly worried about being able to handle the MA and regular job workload. My plan is to become one of those highly organised almost control freak like people!.....or at the very least I'll but myself a diary!

Starting on September 29th! wish me luck! :)

Today I heart......

Today I heart....is a new blogging post that I'm going to chat about every few days. As the name suggests I shall be listing items found on the wonderful world wide web, in and around Limerick or just found on my travels through the land of Etsy....so for my very first post.....

....Today I heart......NiceDay Designs! (yay!) For those of you living in Limerick (or even near by) the new and improved and very famous (at least in Limerick anyways!) Milk Market has been relaunched! I went into town today to check it out and I was so impressed. Every seller is provided with a stall and the new roof gives an airy, almost circus feel to it! I love it!

Ruth from NiceDay designs was selling on Bedford Row through rain, hail and snow (and occasional sunshine) for three years, so this new covered space is a welcome addition for her! She has worked super hard on her display and as you can see from all the colourful displays it would totally bring a smile to your face. Today I bought one of her cute felt brooches that I know will match one of my coats perfectly! For those of you not in Limerick, check out her etsy shop! Free shipping within Ireland, so its a win-win situation!!

Enjoy everyone!

A new look for the blog, lazy long weekends and some great news!

Bliss....bliss....BA-LISSS!!! I'm on my first day of a long weekend and I'm just having the most fab lazy Friday! As I type this it's 11:34, I'm still in my P.J's, listening to my favourite radio station whilst drinking tea ( from my favourite mug) and giving the blog a much needed makeover!......mmmmm this is the life! I think I could be a lady of leisure forever!!

It took me a little while and some patience with my laptop to try and figure out the new additions to blogger but I got there in the end, I do however have to create a new LuckyRainbow banner, something that fits in with the rest of the design.....I shall be testing my photoshop skills to the limit today! :)

I also got some great news today, I applied for the new MA programme in Limerick School of Art & Designs and I got accepted, yea me!.....hmm some serious decision making is required over the weekend!

Hope you're all having a lovely Friday and for those of you heading to the Etsy Cork meeting tomorrow, I shall see you all there!

P.S - tried to upload some nice pictures to accompany this post - but blogger is hating me today! :(

At long last...some new work!

.....well well well, it's easily been well over a month since I've made  new work just for the purpose of listing on Etsy!....and as a matter of fact, I havn't had an Etsy sale in over a month and that's simply because I wasn't listing anything!....oh the guilt! I have these visions of possible and would be customers stopping by and being so dissapointed!....well no more!! (until the next bout of craziness from the 9-5 job kicks in!)

The new items above are available through my etsy shop LuckyRainbowDesigns as always! enjoy! :)