Big flower card

The trend these days seems to be for big flowers so I though that I'd have a go. I've seen lots of the cards made with flowers that have been cut in half. Considering the price on the silk ones I'm not surprised that the people making the cards cut them in half as you get two for the price of one that way. So following the trend, this is a big flower card even if the flower is cut in half.

I used:

A 14cm x 14cm base card in pink.

1 piece of white card 13cm x 13cm

Kuretake calligraphy pens in Heart.

Art and Graphic pens in light Olive (number 56 ) and pink (number 202 )

Half a white die cut flower.

A strip of olive green paper

Sentiment for the Inspiration plate from I Brake for Stamps

Scraps of pink and white card.

3d foam pads

What I did:

Now before you throw your hands up in horror at what I'm going to tell you it really wasn't hard to do this but I did the background freehand. All you have to do is a few flowers with the calligraphy pens some scrolls with the thin end of the Art and Graphics and join them up. I will put an example on U-Tube soon.

I stuck this to the base card and then cut a strip of green paper and dotted along the edge to give a stitched effect.

I coloured the flower with water and the pink pen and then used the green pen to draw some lines around the petals. I stuck a green circle on the petal and then a small white dot. I aded some pink to the dot. I trimmed it and stuck it to the card.

Then I stamped the sentiment in a sepia brown and trimmed it to size. I backed this with some pink card and stuck it to the base card with foam pads.

New Calligraphy Flower Projects

Recently I managed to buy some beautiful card and heavy paper that has a pearl finished with a sheen of gold so I decided to put it together with the calligraphy pens and this is what I've come up with.

The first little card is using the blue set of pens and a small scrap of card. I did threee different flowers to give the card a bit of an edge.

This second card is made with the pens again but this time I drew lots of different flowers with each of them at different heights.

Next I made a simple tag with the technique that I call 'shaky hand'. This is very quick as it is only one flower and little else.

My final piece is this gift bag which is the one that I made in my workshop.

I hope that you like thm too.

Flower Border Card

I saw a card the other day that inspired me. As usual I forgot about it until today, when I was in need of some inspiration. I worked out a way in which I could interpret it with the things at my disposal. This is the result.

I used my tried and trusted method to draw the flowers, but this time I used a stronger green. Art and Graphic 57 to be exact. I also kept the dark edge to the outside when I drew the flowers to give me a strong flower. I didn't go for deilcacy at all this time. I drew the bar coding edge freehand. Don't bother with a ruler as you will make it look dreadful. Go for the free and easy approach. The Flower border will cover any mistakes.

I drew the flowers one under the other on a strip of white card, edged it in pink and then stuck it to the base card.

I used one of the Small Pink Oval Tags and wrote Happy on it with the thin end of the calligraphy pen. I wrote birthday on the card itself.

I then tied a bow and added it to the tag.

It doesn't look much like the original, which was red and brown and a Valentine card but you get the picture.

Garland of Pink Flowers

This card is another one made with the Pink Calligraphy Pens from Kuretake, that I favour so much. Well, who can blame me as they are so versatile. This time, as you can see, I used them to make a garland. To do this I put dots where I wanted the flowers and I then drew the flowers in using the tried and tested method that I've shown you in earlier posts. I then drew in the stems and leaves with the Art and Graphic pen. I used 505 this time as I wanted a soft green result. The leaves were achieved by a series of touches with the soft end of the pen.

To get the stripe at the top I masked of a piece of card and then drew the lines on free hand with both the wide end and the narrow end of the pen. I wanted it to look like soft bar coding.

I then tied a bow with the bowshaper and left the bow on the ribbon. I stuck it to the card with double sided sticky tape and then trimmed the ribbon to fit the card.

I then stamped on the message. I've used this one a lot lately as it can be used for lots of occasions.

Pull treat cover for small flattish gifts

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and, while we want that special gift from the one that we love, we also want it to be beautifully packaged. So here is an idea for making the packaging look superb and the treat inside it will seem so much better too!



This pretty pink package is made with:
a heart die cut
pink calligraphy pens
9mm pink saddle stitch ribbon
3mm saddle stitch ribbon
a sheet of heavy paper
1 sheet of medium weight card
1 flat gift

The tutorial for making this gift wrap is to be found on splitcoast stampers resource page.
The flower making and pen blending technique can be seen here.
Once you have mastered the technique you can make the package bigger or smaller to suit the gift.

I would love to receive this. Now, how can I persuade my husband to make it? I'll let you know if I am successful

Water Colour Effects with the Calligraphy Pens

I know that many of you may think that you can't paint with water colours, but I'd like to show you a way to use the Zig Blendable Calligraphy Pens which achieves the watercolour effect with ease. You will then be able to produce little watercolour effect pictures like the one on the card.




The first thing that you need to do is draw two lines. Not straight, but something like the ones in the picture. Don't get too hung up on this as they are only simple lines. Don't press too hard.




Now choose the colour of blendable pens that you want to have as flowers. I chose Powder Blue and Splash and touch the darker one to the edge of the lighter one. See the earlier blog to see a picture of how to do this.

Use the pen to add petals either side of each stem. Think of the flower as a long triangle. You will need wider petals at the bottom and narrower, tighter and smaller at the top.


Below is another example of a flower that is thinner than the one in the card example and has three stems. You can experiment. Feel free to get going.


Now you can cut out your picture and decorate it as you wish. I edged the piece of card and added a bow.

Customised Flowers and Calligraphy Background.

I had anothe rof my bright ideas last night and I thought of putting the calligraphy petal background to work with the customised flowers and this is what I came up with.



There's no need to tell you what to do as it's explained in the previous posts.