Hello friend

Hello and good evening!

Here's a card I made for a friend using So Suzy Stamps and Ink Bites. (All inks are by So Suzy Stamps except black.)

Kinda looks like one of those beautiful cherry blossom trees, what say? ^__^ I love this particular set of ink bites because it's a color co-ordinated set of soft pastel shades that make awesome cards for all age groups! And two shades of purple! Woo hoo!

Steps :

First, on a die-cut piece of cardstock I stamped the Bare Tree Tall stamp using the Pretty Pewter Ink Bite.

After that I used the Dot Splatter stamp and stamped it multiple times using Thistle Thicket and Lucky Lavender Ink Bites.

All of the ink bites that I used are from the So Suzy - Highland Spring Ink Bite set.

Stamped sentiment (Hello Friend) using black archival ink.

Next, using Carnation Pink Nuvo Drops I added a couple of drops to the tree and sprinkled glitter over it.

Matted it onto black card base, added a couple of heart stickers near the sentiment (purchased locally) and tied a silver twine.

Here's a close up :

And that's how I did it! ^__^ Thank you so much for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Linking this to : So Suzy Ink Bites Challenge

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Let's talk about craft supplies

Hello!

This is going to be one long post so bear with me please.  ^__^

Especially because this one has no pictures.

Recently, I got to know that a few of So Suzy Stamps were copied and were wrongly being sold in India.

I do not want my article to be about negativity, I only want to educate those new crafters who have recently embraced the hobby to know how to recognize the difference between an original product and a fake.

Let's take the example of So Suzy Stamps.

So Suzy Stamps are made in the USA with high quality red rubber. So when you see someone selling those exact same designs in clear stamps, alarm bells should go off in your head.

I know what you're thinking... how will we know that there is another brand out there who owns this design?

It's difficult when you're starting out. To be absolutely honest, there are some brands that even the most experienced crafters do not know of.

Any brand's work can be copied but here are a few things to keep in mind before you make a crafty purchase.

Google is your best friend

If you are in doubt or confused about a purchase, google it.

First try with the product name. If nothing comes up, use an element from the product and google.

Example : If it's a wedding dress stamp, google :  wedding dress stamp images

You can even use this technique for stencil patterns, stickers etc.

While it is not foolproof, it can help you determine to a certain extent if the product you plan to purchase is original or not.

Cost

Usually the copied products are priced much lower than the originals. So if you see a product being offered to you at a throw away price whereas identical products by other companies are expensive, think, why is this product being sold so cheap?

Ask the manufacturer

Many manufacturers are not designers and illustrators. They source the design from illustrators, pay for it and manufacture it.

So, if in doubt you should ask the manufacturer for the source. If it seems fishy, you know you are dealing with a fake product.

Ask a craft store owner

Most craft store owners who have been dealing in the sale of craft supplies will know the difference between an original and a fake.

Many of these wonderful ladies help out and give advice upon asking so if you are in a doubt, do not hesitate to contact them! They will definitely guide.

Disadvantages of purchasing a fake product :

Performance
The fake product will give you inferior performance and will not give you the best results.

Resale value
If you buy an original product, you can re-sell it / destash it after you are no longer interested in using it and recover some amount out of the total cost of that item.

If it's a fake people will not buy it.

Also sometimes things are bought on an impulse and we crafters destash those (I know I have bought stuff on an impulse and destashed those items, brand new!) at MRP less 5 - 10% of what we paid for it. With a fake product, once again, it's not gonna be possible as people will not buy it.

So you see, while the fake product may come cheap, in the long run, it is nothing but a loss.

Reputation
Using a fake product will only hamper your brand value and reputation in the international markets. A major negative if you ask me.

I hope this article has helped you learn something new and encouraged you to make an informed decision leading to an ethical purchase.

Lastly, we have formed a facebook group to help people learn the difference between originals and fakes.
Join us if you are also a supporter of original products!

Check it out >>>>  HERE 

Have a beautiful weekend dear friends and happy crafting! ^__^

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Fun with stencils!

Hello and good morning dear friends!

Here's a project I made using all the three gorgeous stencils by Peek-a-boo Designs (PABD)!

A part of the latest June 2016 release, they're pretty AWESOME and if you haven't checked these out yet, well.... where have you been?!

Have a look at these stencils :

1. Bubbles

2. Arrows

3. Tiles

Along with these stencils, I have used the following stamp sets by PABD :

So, how'd I do it? ^__^ 

Here are the steps :

1. Created background using PABD stencils (Bubbles, Arrows & Tiles) with distress inks (Mustard Seed, Spun Sugar & Spiced Marmalade).

2. After that, did the stamping using black archival ink.

3. Next I used an old newspaper like a rub-on and transfered some of it's print onto the project. (It transfers real easy, just cut a piece, lay it on project and smooth it out using a bone folder / butter knife) Pretty cool huh? :)

4. Then, I paper-pieced the balloon.

5. Adhered a couple of sequins.

6. Matted it onto a red card base and boom! Done!

If you would like to check out the entire JUNE 2016 release by PABD you can check it out --- HERE

Before I sign off, I have a close up image to share so that you can see how pretty these stencils truly are :

  

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a lovely day!

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Release day @Peekaboo + Blog hop!

Hello and good morning! ^__^

Welcome to Challenge #7 over at Peek-a-boo Designs!

A fun theme this time around where all you gotta do is make something using an old item from your stash along with an item you recently purchased.

So let's have a look at what I made :

I've used the Mandala stamp set along with the Bubbles stencil and the Arrow stencil that are a part of the June 2016 Release.

Here are the product images :

Apart from these, I've also used an  element from Roundy Sentiment stamp set and a sentiment from the Lily Hope stamp set (see 3rd picture) both of which are earlier releases by Peek-a-boo Designs.

And that's not all... we're having a Blog Hop! For the very first time! So much fun!

Here's the blog hop order :

Peek-a-boo Designs Blog
Halak << You are HERE
Manu
Piyanki
Sharada
Vijaylaxmi

Rules to the hop :

The Mega Prize is a Rs. 1000 gift voucher to choose what you like at the Peek-a-boo Designs online store.

Here are the details :

Five winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and they would get the gorgeous creation made by our DT and some goodies that they would add along.

Leave a comment on the design team blogs listed above and the Peek-a-boo Designs blog for your chance to win!

Be a follower of all the blogs. (5 DT blogs and 1 Peek-a-boo Design Blog)

Deadline : You have until midnight IST on Thursday, 30th June 2016 to leave a comment.

Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop by tagging us and using ---> #PABDbloghop

Tell us that you shared it with your Instagram friends by tagging us (@peekaboo_designs) and using ---> #PABDbloghop

Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop by linking your blog post to the assigned inlinkz.

And that's it!

I hope you liked what I created and checked out our new release. (It's bloody awesome, isn't it? ^__^)

Thank you so much for participating and playing along in the blog hop! Have an awesome day! *Hugs*

Saying thanks

Here's a card I made to thank a friend.

Could I have said thanks over a phone or msg? Sure. But for a card maker, there is no better joy than to say it with a card. ^__^

How'd I make it?

A CAS project, I used the Flower Flourish stamp by So Suzy Stamps along with a sentiment stamp by Tim Holtz.

Stamped the flourish and sentiment onto cardstock and tied a ribbon.

The cardstock that you see here is the white textured cardstock sold by PABD. (Peek-a-boo Designs)

Colored parts of flourish using Sakura Pens.

Added glitter to parts of flourish. (I used pva glue and glitter with a thin brush but an easier option is wink of stella!)

Finished it off with a few pastel sequins. (From Craftin' Desert Divas)

And that's it!

Before I sign off, a quick close up :

Sparkly!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

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Bunch of ATCs!

Hello and good morning! ^__^

Here's the post that was long overdue...

What happened was I made some ATCs, and then made some more and since they were all different, I decided to collaborate them into one big post!

So here goes..

The photograph that you see above was a part of a sneak peek of a gorgeous Limited Edition stamp set called Away We Go launched by Peek-A-Boo Designs.

You can read all about it : HERE 

Next up, this set of ATCs was made using distress inks, stencils, washi tape, glitter, crackle accents, modeling paste, die-cuts and sequins along with some mini mixed media themed stamps by Peek-A-Boo Designs.

This one was made using distress inks with my favorite stamp - Phineas The Peacock by So Suzy Stamps.
The sentiment is a sticker.

This one has a mix of stamps from Studio G, Altenew and So Suzy Stamps.

This ATC has the Love Balloon and Celebrate stamps by So Suzy Stamps along with the usual suspects, glitter, washi tape and sequins!

This one was challenging, as the theme was love without using the colors : red and pink!

It has quite a few items like rhinestones, pearls etc. adhered to it but, the stamps used for this project are by So Suzy Stamps & Tim Holtz along with the Rhapsody stencil by Memory Box.

Last but not the least, this ATC features a Heidi Swapp stencil with a partial So Suzy Stamp (Stardust Dancing).

I'm sorry I couldn't describe the steps in detail for each and every ATC, because as you can see, they are all different and that would make this post painfully long!

But... if you have any query regarding any of these, drop me an email at : halak.shah@gmail.com OR leave a comment on this blog post and I shall reply to it at the earliest!

Thank you so much for stopping by! *Big Panda Hugs*

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A sparkly birthday card

Hello! ^__^

A quick post today, sharing a with you a birthday card I made.

I made this using Bielo Cardstock, a sample of which was given to me as a part of the 3rd birthday celebrations at The Craft Shop. (Thank you Priya! It's really awesome!)

This cardstock is smooth and super sturdy, 300 gsm.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it took on the inks during stenciling, because these are not distress inks... these are dye inks! So despite me using dye inks, as you can see, it led to a nice, smooth blend.

It's pure white cardstock, which means it does not have subtle yellow / grey undertones, thereby making the colors look more vibrant.

All in all, I really enjoyed using it and will definitely be getting more of this cardstock to try with other mediums!

A fairly easy CAS project, here's a list of the stuff I used to make this card :

The sentiment (Happy Birthday stamp by So Suzy Stamps) was stamped using Archival ink.

The dye ink set is called Highland Spring and is also by So Suzy Stamps.

I used brads (by Kaisercraft), washi tape, glitter (both local buys) and some die-cuts (RAK from a crafty Pen Pal).

Also on the butterfly and the background you can see a script stamp which is by Tim Holtz.

Here's a close up :

This was one awfully tough to photograph project (blame the poor lighting) but I did manage to click a picture at a lower angle to show you the shimmer on the butterfly.

Oh, also used some mini pearls, a teeny tiny confetti star and some rhinestones in blue and purple on the butterfly. (From my stash.)

The various layers of shimmer! Sparkly sparkly! ^__^

And that's that!

Thank you so much for stopping by, have an awesome day!

Linking this to :  The Craft Shop Contest 

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