I have only just started with the Inkadinkadoo stamping system and so far only have one part - the circle cog starter set, but what a revelation. I don't know who it's best for... the +gentleman crafter is an expert and very inspiring, but don't let that put any new stampers off. In fact the stamping gear is excellent for those who don't have much confidence. You don't have to do geometric patterns, but the inkadinkadoo stamps tend to lead you in that direction. In the first picture here you can see the circle 'cog' and the stamp paddle at the side. The paddle you can just see has points at the top and bottom; these fit neatly into the grooves around the edge of the cog to help space your pattern building properly. Here are a couple of examples of my 'playtime'.
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Anyway is up
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In this first one I opened out a DL card, chose an inkadinkadoo stamp that I liked then centred the cog onto the card so that it went over the fold. I thought the corners looked a bit bare and because the 'cog' has compass points on it I was able to line up a quarter of the cog in the corner and put a pattern there too. The inkpad I used was a 'big and juicy' in spice colours to add some interest (which I don't think you can get anymore which is a real shame, but you can get other multi colour pads). What I found by doing my design all over and geometrically is that you can use the card anyway up you want. You have two options in the vertical aspect and two in the horizontal plane (sounds posh for up and sideways! :-) ).
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Partidges
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This second one is a little more adventurous and I have used not only the inkadinkadoo stamps, but also I have found that the depth of +Clarity stamps means that they also work well on the inkadinkadoo paddle. I was able to stamp a design around the cog and because I used every other groove for spacing, it left a gap big enough to put in my small partridge. With a couple of spellbinder shapes I was able to make a centrepiece and stamped that with the large clarity Partridge, before matting and layering the whole shebang.
I know I have a lot more experimenting to do with this new tool. I'll be buying the circle wheel next as that allows you to design within the wheel as well as even larger designs than you can do with the cog. I've also got an idea about what I'll be hoping Santa leaves in my Christmas stocking....
Lesley X
Hello there
Well it's been a while since I did any posting (I really must learn some discipline for this!). At the last craft and coffee at Heighley gate, we made small photobooks out of dishwasher tablet boxes. I was quite pleased with mine, but if you want to see what you can really do with them, I recommend that you go to , +Margie. When I've decided what I'm going to put in mine, I'll post it on here. Our 'mingle' (it's a kind of challenge, but we exchange what we've made) for last Sunday was an anything goes with a bees, butterflies or insects theme. I decided to go with butterflies and made a set of fridge magnets. I hope you like them.
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| Butterfly Trio |
First of all I used my butterfly spellbinder dies and cut one of each size into sticky backed magnetic sheets; I did the same with some card. Before sticking the card to the magnetic sheet (I learnt the hard way!) I coloured the biggest one in using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens in a freehand design. Once coloured I thought that the central section was a bit bland. To overcome this, I hunted out a Spellbinder Christmas bauble die cut and used it as a stencil to make sure that the design on both sides was the same. After that I lightly tipped around the edge and the cut out sections with gold gilding wax; folded the design in half and did the same along the centre of the body. Once the colouring was done, I stamped all over with a clear Versamark pad and heat embossed with clear powder. This intensified all of the colours and protected the surface. For the antennae I found some gold wire (taken from a very fancy bottle of wine we were given at Christmas) and curled the ends. I took the backing from the magnetic sheet and stuck the wires in place before carefully matching up the paper die cut to the magnetic one. I finished off with some strategically placed 'jewels'.
The middle butterfly is done in the same way, but the pattern is a stamp from +claritystamp design club (It's a cat but you wouldn't know it); again I coloured in with alcohol pens; tipped with gold gilding wax and heat embossed before mounting the card onto the magnetic die cut. and putting some gems on. The tiny one is self coloured with gilding wax before being heat embossed.
Stay well and enjoy your crafting
Lesley X
