Ritzstar Crafts

Today I wanted to create something different. I didn't feel inspired to do any art journalism or to make a card. I want to say at this point that this is a short craft project and super simple to make.  I wasn't sure what I was going to be making, but I started off by stamping a cute wee dragon from the Magical Dragon by My Favorite Things. I used alcohol markers to colour in my dragon. Then I added metallic touches to his horns and wings. Next I added green glitter to his belly to add a bit more interest to the image. At this point I was stuck. I have a cute dragon, but what am I going to do with him?  I was looking at my embellishments and saw my giant metallic paperclips and yes I had a green one. So my dragon will become a bookmark! Form here I I cut him out and stuck him onto another piece of 250gsm white cardstock. I did this because when you use alcohol markers the bleed towards the back of the page and I didn't want to see this from the back sid...

For today's "craft time" I just wanted to do something a little bit girly. I was thinking about the travels I have done in my life and this is what sparked my inspiration for today. Paris is one place I'd love to revisit in my lifetime and I have many found memories of being there with all my extended family. With that being said; let's get into how I created today's card. I used Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut Stain and Seedless Preserves. I first placed Walnut Stain onto my craft mat and sprayed it with water. Next I pressed my card panel into the ink. I continued this until I was happy with the amount of colour. I then repeated the same process with my Seedless Preserves Ink.   Then I stamped some blossoms onto my panel using Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black. I should have stopped at about five stamped images, but I got carried away. Next I jumped onto the computer and typed up the word 'Paris' over and over again till I had enough I coul...

This week I've been creating and practicing making shaker cards. It has not worked out more times than it has. I tried a whole range of window ideas and of course I managed to get glitter everywhere! That being said I love how some of them turned out and I will continue to practice making shaker cards. Practice makes perfect right?? I'd love to have some cute holiday ones to send at the end of this year so gonna keep practicing these throughout the year. (As you can see lots of them are Christmas themed. Love me some Christmas spirit!) I'm gonna do a very quick run through of just one of the cards today. So let's go.... To start with I die cut a snowflake border on an angle from 250gsm pearlised white cardstock. I then glued blue glitter card behind it. (This will become the back of my shaker window.) I popped this into a clear cellophane bag and glued it shut. Next I cutout a window from the front of a 300gsm white card. Then I stuck a piece of cello bag, cut...

Sometimes I just don't feel like spending a lot of time being artistic or crafting. Days like today I would much rather just watch a few movies and hang out with my dog. So I thought I'd practice techniques instead. However, I did decided I might as well make a quick card and ended up making a greeting card and a small gift tag. I used 300gsm smooth white card stock for the main body of my card and 250gsm smooth white cardstock for the front panels. First I cut two identical front panels slightly smaller that my card base will be. I decided to try using embossing as a resist for my inking. I have never tried this before so wasn't sure how it would all work out. It was a lot simpler that I thought it would be and also fun! First I used a floral motif clear stamp and Ranger Clear Embossing Ink Pad. Next I covered my stamped image with Ranger Clear Embossing Powder. I used my heat tool to heat set my embossing powder. Once That was complete I blended two Distress Ink...

Today I felt like playing around with watercolours and just having a bit of fun. I used canvas paper today, which I later stuck into my art journal, as the journal pages are not thick enough for soaking. I wet down my page and ensured that the paper had soaked up all the water before starting. I slowly added colour from four watercolour paints. I continued to add colour and wet down the page until I was happy with the coverage. Next I had to let it completely dry on it's own. I could have used a heat tool, but I wanted as little warping of the paper as possible. While I waited for the paper to dry out I jumped onto the computer and looked for free images I could use, or something that would spark an idea for my art journal. I love Disney so when I saw this free clip-art I knew I had to use it today! It made me think of 'clap if you believe in fairies'; and so I also decided I wanted to have some writing on there. I printed out a copy of the clip-art then care...

For today I wanted a simple and cute card so I decided to use the Magical Dragon set from My Favorite Things.   To start off I cut two pieces of 250gsm smooth white cardstock the same size. I then blended a blue sky background onto one piece using a combination of Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Faded Jeans distress inks by Ranger. Next I die cut two clouds out of the coloured panel and die cut a large square window out of my second piece of cardstock. Next I stamped out a cute dragon and some flames using Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black. I used Tumbled Glass to add a subtle amount of colour over all three stamped images. (I did this so when I cut out my images I wouldn't have a white background/outline.) Next I used alcohol markers to colour my images and then I cut them out. I also stamped out the sentiment 'Here's a BIRTHDAY Flyby' onto a scrap piece of green card. (Luckily it matched my dragon.) I then used a combination of craft foam, fo...

I actually started out this card by trying to practice using my new blending tool. So I picked colours I liked and away I went. I used Ranger Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick, Seedless Preserves, Faded Jeans and Mermaid Lagoon. Once I had my coloured base down I got inspired to do a Harry Potter themed card. I wanted the card elements to be simple but I wanted to add an element of fun. Thus, the spinner/sliding card. Once I knew what theme I wanted I went ahead and added some interest to the panel with a few white splatters. I did this by using gesso diluted in water and lightly tapping the paint brush above my card. Next I cut out the curved groove for my card, as well as an extra curved groove out of another piece of card. I did this to help strengthen the mechanism so the front panel wouldn't bend or fray as quickly. Then I glued the extra piece to the back of the coloured panel.  I grabbed some change (two 10c pieces) that I had floating about my handbag. I cut a ...