Using Julie Loves...Mandalas

Oh wow! What a busy few months it's been! I can't believe how long it's been since my last blog post! I'm so sorry!

So first of all we had my darling daughter's first birthday which I think took more planning than my wedding day! Seriously - more parties than the Queen - oh well, she deserved it :-) 

Then, shortly after the birthday celebrations I had a short spell in hospital while I had surgery to remove my gallbladder - told you it's been crazy!

So what better to get back into the swing of things than a play around with the latest Julie Love Creativity box which landed through the letterbox :-)

This month saw mandalas and oh my goodness they're amazing! Here's a few of the cards I made with the kit and I'll natter along the way to tell you what I did...

So this is one of my favourites! I've taken inspiration from the inky patterned paper and using a waterbrush and distress oxides to paint the foiled mandala topper. Super simple but really effective. Then mounted on a flag style matt and layer then adhered a foiled circle sentiment in the triangle space at the bottom.

This is another favourite (I think they're all favourites lol). So here I've done a really CAS card. Not added any colour to the foiled topper, just added a vellum banner across the front of the card and left it all black and white to really let the gold foiling show off. I've added the foiled circle sentiment to the front of the vellum banner centred on the mandala design. Then 3 pieces of card candi in the top right just for a tiny splash of colour.

This was a super quick card to make. I've matt and layered with the purple patterned paper and a square of black card then again left the foiled mandala topper plain, layering a sentiment on the front in the centre but this time adhering candi on candi fix foam pads all the way around the edge of the topper design to add some extra colour and to draw the eye in.

This is a super cool design! It looks like I've used loads of the foiled mandala toppers doesn't it?! Yet I've only used THREE! I've attached one complete with a sentiment in the centre and then the other two I've attached to the covered card front over the edge. None of the pieces that went over the edge were wasted as the pieces that were cut off are the smaller pieces that are also on the card front!

I really loved the inky patterned backgrounds. I'm not one for getting really messy so these are perfect for me! And because they don't have specific designs on them and the colours are so varied in this pad, they'll go with a whole range of other products too! BONUS!

There were embossed frames in the creativity box too, here's what I did with some of mine:

You can find out details of how to subscribe or buy some of the contents at www.craftworkcards.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by!!

5 ways to add doodling to your cards and projects

I love adding doodles and simple pen lines to cards and projects. They really help finish off a card, make the card pop, add another dimension - and doodles are a super cheap extra embellishment, right?! Doodles are also so individual, no one else will be able to replicate the exact same doodles as yours; this makes your cards and projects even more unique!

1. Here I used simple doodled flowers on the spots of the paper to add some depth and definition to the card. This enabled me to show the papers in a different light but also show how you can stretch the use of your papers further. This example is doodled flowers but there would be nothing to stop you adding other types of doodles – maybe turn some spots into footballs or baseballs, turns spots to buttons by drawing holes and stitching on them, draw smiley faces - give it a go on a piece of scrap first if you’re unsure! Use the patterns on the paper as guides for your doodles. You can see here the same paper is used for the background and the focal point, with doodling added to the focal piece - it gives it a totally different look! You can get this paper here.

2. This time I made a really quick clean and simple card adding simple pen lines to frame the layers and elements on the card. Often framing elements on your card whether that be with stamped images or doodles can work really well. I find framing the layers can really complete a card and draw the eye to a focal point. Generally, I do two lines on each side- the main reason being that one line by itself if wobbly can look – well, wobbly. If you do two lines that cross in places they look like you intended them to look wobbly and don’t look out of place. See below. Here’s an example without pen lines, with one pen line and then with two pen lines, my signature element on a card! You can get these papers and stamps here

3. Stitching can look amazing on cards. As much as I’d love to get out my sewing machine and add stitching to some of my cards there’s two main reasons that I don’t do this – the first one being that it really blunts your best sewing needles, the second reason that I’m impatient, I like immediate results and this takes too much time for me. Here comes my saviour, faux stitching! This takes no time at all in comparison and is a really easy look to achieve. Here I’ve shown the same stamped image with different types of stitching. If you need ideas, you can always look at sewing machines online and see the types of stitches you can do with the machines and replicate this with you pen! These stamps can be bought here

4. Sometimes I’ll stamp a main focal point and don’t want to add too much to the card other than that. That’s where the ‘magic 3 dots’ comes in to save the day! This technique came from my wonderfully talented and very lovely friend, Julie Hickey. On a clean and simple card that you don’t want to add much to, the magic 3 dots can really fill a space without filling it at all! Here’s a before and after shot showing how this can work on your card. If you didn’t want to add 3 dots, you could also do tiny doodle flowers, larger spots or stars, whatever goes best with the theme of your card. You can find these papers here

5. If you’re feeling brave – go freestyle! Make your doodling the focal point on your card, whether that’s your own handwritten sentiment on the front of your card or try drawing simple flower shapes on patterned paper and cut then out for your card front. If you didn't feel you could draw something, you could doodle on die cut shapes or punched shapes. You could draw anything on patterned paper and cut it out, or even draw straight onto your card and use watercolours or markers to colour in! This way there’s always just the right image you need for a particular card! The internet is full of drawing ideas and helpful step by steps if you’re after something more complex – give it a go! These papers were from a subscription club

Well there it is, 5 ways to add doodling to your cards and projects. I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post as must as I enjoyed writing it for you and I hope it’s inspired you to given you ideas on how and I hope it’s inspired you or give you ideas on how you can add doodles. I’d love to see any of your doodled projects or cards!

Thanks for popping by – happy crafting!!