Tobi Crawford ink: watercolour

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful - Technique Tuesday

March 24, 2018
By Tobi Crawford
1 Comments

Hello out there!

I've almost recovered from my 2-month lung infection and starting to my creative (as well as physical) energy back. I am so thankful to be healthy again... That was easily some of the toughest months of my life and I'm glad it's over!!!

So, I don't know about you, but I ordered the latest release of Oxide Inks and they were sitting pretty on my shelf just waiting to be used...

I created this background by sponging through a die cut circle. I only used two colours (Picked Raspberry and Squeezed Lemonade) and blended them in the centre to create the orangey colour.

Isn't this a gorgeous image?

It's this month's Greenhouse Society set called: Cherry Blossoms.

I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed it with Black. I then coloured it with watercolours (Prima) and handcut it out.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Have a great weekend.

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Hello!!!! - A Random Card

March 10, 2018
By Tobi Crawford
1 Comments

Hello there!

It's been a while.

I've been sick...

Nothing serious, but I've definitely had my life, work, and vacations impacted.

Fever/sinus infection/lung infection that lasted over 2 months.. It's sucked.

It's crystal-clear to me how much I rely on my health to be creative. I am the kind of person who is VERY undisciplined with my creative work, and if I'm not inspired, it's like I can't work.

That. needs. to. change.

I work well with goals and deadlines, and the key is, to impose deadlines on myself.

If any of you have TIPS on how to stay productive, please share!!!

This card was made for a purpose, that's why it got done, lol....

I designed a class for beginning cardmakers here in Shanghai, and the topic is:

Watercolours!

This card is super simple and the watercolour technique was a simple one: paint blobs of random, pretty colours onto a stamped piece of cardstock. The trick is not to blend as it will start to eat away at the paper. The colours will dry soft and pretty as long as diluted paints are used...

So again, if you have any wise words for me, or tricks you use to keep yourself creating, please let me know... I am in a slump...

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Supplies:

Background stamp: Flurry & Pine - Stampers Anon.

Gold Leaf: Technique Tuesday

Sentiment: Altenew- Cities Abroad

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Birthday Wishes - MFT

October 10, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

I just finished a little holiday from work (in China the first week of October is called the "Mid-Autumn Festival) and amongst shopping in the city, getting my hair cut, and getting a new tattoo I squeezed in a little cardmaking!

This is a wonderfully simple sketch from MFT's Card Challenges, and it was the perfect little push out of my slump. (It's been a tough month, both professionally and personally) I don't know about you, but whenever it's been a while my mojo disappears, and I need a challenge to get it back!!

I used the Etched Flower Background stamp on the bright coral cardstock for a clean tone-on-tone look
I stamped a few images from Fancy Flowers on watercolour cardstock, and coloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.
a couple of random/not randomly placed sequins added some beautiful shine.

Thank you for stopping by, and happy thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!! (I really missed it this year... Damn China and their lack of turkey!!!)

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City Silhouettes - Sizzix UK

October 06, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Watercolours....

So much fun, right?

I like making backgrounds and being really free with how they're created.

I bought these Jane Davenport watercolour pens and created this background by dropping different colours around the paper and just kind of let them bleed together.

This card was made with the piece from above:

And here's a more cheerful colour scheme using the same techniques:

I used dies from Cityscape, Metropolis #661804 to create the lovely silhouette.

Thank you for stopping by!

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Worry Warts Card: Technique Tuesday

August 26, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there!

On my summer holidays I had very limited supplies, but one thing I picked up on my travels was the Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers. They're basically ink-filled water pens, so they're perfect to play around with in a watercolour-y way.

This is the newest stamp from Technique Tuesday's Animal House collection called:

Felix the Frog.

Each month we release a new Animal House™ stamp set. If you would like to receive these stamp sets each month join the auto-ship program. Members enjoy discounts, exclusive special offers, plus free shipping on additional products. You can learn more in the membership agreement and FAQ.

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You Are Loved - Technique Tuesday

April 25, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

Oh hey? Do you follow me on Instagram?

(I'm @jazzytobi just in case you want to be friends)

Anyway, if you do, then you know i'm now 40 YEARS OLD!! WHAT???

It sounds old, but it feels good. Life makes sense, you know?

Well, until something catastrophic rocks my world and I move to another strange country again, but for now - I'm enjoying it!

This card was made on my birthday and it's a very happy.

I only used the best colours!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamp set: Fringed Dahlia

White Embossing Powder

Bazzill Cardshoppe Cardstock

Watercolor Paints

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Delicate Feather - Sizzix UK

April 04, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
1 Comments

I am so excited to share today's post, because it's my debut with Sizzix UK!
I am especially excited to share my projects and ideas with friends and followers in my neck of the woods (China!).

So first let me share my new baby:

I forgot how much I loved the Big Shot! It cuts so deeply and all of the little pieces for intricate dies fall out like confetti.

So if you don't know me, well I'm here to tell you I'm ALL ABOUT black silhouettes against colourful backgrounds. This feather is gorgeous and went perfectly with these watercoloured pieces.

Supplies:

Sizzix Thinlits Die - Delicate Feather Item #661682

Sizzix Big Shot (White and Grey) Item #660200

To see all of the new dies, CLICK HERE!

Also, if you're a Wechat or QQ user, please add me!

blog hop

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop: Altenew

March 26, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
27 Comments

This weekend was all about organization for me but I'm glad that I got a chance to play along with the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. I got three new sets of Tim Holtz distress crayons today (sets 7/8/9) so I thought I would use those as a feature in today's card.

On the left you can see that I just scribbled a bunch of the distress crayons on to the already embossed piece of watercolour card stock. To activate the crayons I used a few spritzes of water and a baby wipe to move the colours around and blend them.

Thank you for stopping by and have fun on the blog hop!!!

Supplies:

Stamp set: Altenew Coffee Love Stamp Set

Tim Holtz distress crayons

MFT Decorative edge die

The Twinery Twine

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Make Your Own Background - Mama Elephant

March 12, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
1 Comments

I had a very restful Sunday playing with my stamps and getting some much-needed rest from talking. I've had a very long bout of laryngitis and it still hurts to talk and sing (sucks to be a choir teacher right now!!) but the weekends are gooooood!!

I played along with the Simon Says Monday Challenge: Make Your Own Background

I made a galaxy background with watercolor paints... And actually, I started with a long panel so I was able to make two cards!

If you took away the background these cards would be very "CAS" and that's what I love about the galaxy background technique - it kind of stands alone!!

The little bears and sentiment (Mama Elephant) are my go-to set when I do this technique - love them!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Space Bears

Nuvo Jewel Drops "Grey Mist"

birthday

Happy Birthday - Technique Tuesday

February 14, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

I'm just popping by to share a pretty card!

Watercoloring is one of my favourite things...

I stamped this new image from Technique Tuesday a few times onto watercolour paper and really loosely coloured the panel with Zig Clean Colour Brush Markers. Love those babies!!

The big contrast piece is the sentiment cut out of black glitter paper!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamp Set: Ruffled Rose (Technique Tuesday)

Die Cut: Celebrate DIY Steel Die

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Love You - Technique Tuesday

January 15, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

Who says Valentines have to be red?

I wanted to play with the Color Throwdown challenge and decided to just go with it!

I also used this week's Cas(E) this sketch, so basically, I did no work for this card, hahahaha...

Seriously though, I think the fun part of playing with colour challenges is looking through my patterned papers, and this yellow woodgrain screamed to be used with the owl.

The image is new from Technique Tuesday (starts shipping on 1/17/17) and it was a cinch to color with watercolours. I used Prima Watercolor Pencils and a waterbrush.

Color Throwdown Challenge

Cas(E) this sketch

Supplies:

Stamp: Technique Tuesday: Love You Owl

Die Cuts: Love You, Hearts (Technique Tuesday)

Metallic paper: Heidi Swapp

Cards

Hello 2017!

January 02, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Happy New Year from down under🐨🐕🎉!

We've had a lot of great days here and now we're paying for it, hahaha.. Just take it from me: the Australian sun is REALLY, REALLY strong! Hopefully none of us develop skin cancer from our burns because all three of us have quite serious complications, so we're taking it easy the rest of the vacation!

Resolutions... do you do them?

I don't do anything formal, like write them in a journal or make grand proclamations, but I think it's only natural to say to yourself:

And that's all I say... what COULD I do differently?

I am not going to make promises I can't keep, so I will start by listing some things I could do to make my life better.

Lose more weight. So I am comfortable when I travel, and have more energy to do the things I like doing.
Photograph more. Because I love it and I am starting to learn how to use my camera better
Save money. We don't have a retirement plan since moving to China and we're not getting any younger!
Blog more. It has dropped off and I miss being in touch with the crafting world like I used to be.
Be a better teacher. I feel great when I have those lessons where the students are engaged and really "into it" and I want that to happen more.
Be a better wife and mother, because there's a million ways I could be better!

So 2017, let's try and do as many of these things as we can, because life can always use a little help now and again...

Speaking of wanting to blog more, let's start the year off with a card!

It's clean and simple, and just a great card to have around just in case.

Happy New Year!

Supplies:

Technique Tuesday dies: Leaves , Blessed

Technique Tuesday stamps: Thankful Thoughts

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Season's Greetings - Technique Tuesday

December 22, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

Oh Christmas is so close, I can't wait! And, I have to say, this is the most prepared I've ever been! Presents are wrapped and under the tree, all card orders are delivered, and I'm set!

Have I mentioned we're going to Australia for Christmas??!! I'm glad I'm so busy with school because I wouldn't be able to sleep if I actually had time to think about it. I've wanted to go to Australia my whole life, so this is a dream come true!!

So this card...

SO fricken proud of this one...

This was a combo of coordinating dies and stamps and it was easy to create because I just threw everything together!

I embossed the snowflakes with both clear embossing powder and gold (just on the edges) for that antiqued look.

Merry Christmas!!

Supplies:

Stamps and dies from Technique Tuesday

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'Tis The Season - SRM Stickers

December 19, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there. I'm here today with a gorgeous watercoloured poinsettia card. It looks really complicated, but the stamp did most of the work, I promise!!

Knowing I was going to watercolour, I stamped in Distress Ink - that way any water I added to the ink would blend with the pencils I used.

The process I used for each petal was to:

1) Add some watercolour pencil in the shaded areas

2) Blend pencil and ink with a water pen

To finish the card off, I added some watercolour washes in the background and a bunch of splatters in white and brown.

A classy sentiment from We've Got Your Sticker - Merry on vellum was the final touch!

Thanks for stopping by!!

cas

Christmas Tags

December 14, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

With all of my fun supplies there's no way I BUY my gift tags!! I try to make them cute, but don't go overboard on the techniques... after all, they get used once then they're garbage.. so here are some of the tags I made:

I had some ink sprays on my table from another project so I dragged pieces of paper through the ink and voila, a perfect background!

I dried the strips of paper and cut them into tags and all I had left to do was stamp to/from and add a chipboard piece on each of the tags.

I am a sucker for a cute sheet of Christmas chipboard pieces so I had a lot to choose from.

Here are my favs:

Thanks for stopping by today!!

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Merry & Bright - SRM Stickers

November 20, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there! I have a card featured on the SRM blog and a little tutorial to go a long with it!

I hope you're having a great weekend... Enjoy!!

annabellestamps

Friendship Poppy - The Twinery

November 08, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there. I'm here today with a beautiful and simple friendship card. On November 11th we celebrate Remembrance Day in Canada, so in honour of that day, I used a poppy stamp.

As a Canadian I will always think of a poppy as symbolic of Nov. 11 (Flanders Field etc...) but it is such a beautiful flower on it's own. I added a pale wash of watercolours in the background, and coloured the poppies with Copics using the "no-line" technique. I think it really made the flowers stand out. The black twine was an accent along with the black sentiment and black dots. It "tied" them all together. *wink*

Twine: Charcoal Baker's Twine
Stamp is by retired Annabelle Stamps

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To My Beastie - MFT

October 23, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
3 Comments

I got this set and wanted to have a little fun with it this weekend.

The background was created with watercolors and little trees that are part of the set.

And the little "beastie was nestled in some white glitter paper I made with glue and Distress Stickles "Clear Rock Candy."

For this card, I used the current MFT Sketch:

Thanks for stopping by!!

avery elle

The Secret Ingredient - Technique Tuesday

October 17, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

I had a great weekend of organizing and relaxing, and yet, I still had time to play along with a couple of challenges.

I was frustrated with this card until I found the perfect accompaniment to the sentiment: Macarons!!!

They were stamped (two-steps) and I added a little bit of grey shadow with watercolors.

Here are the two challenges I played with:

Color Throwdown Challenge:

and Cas(e) This Sketch:

Supplies:

Sentiment: Technique Tuesday

Macarons: Avery Elle

Watercolors - Gansai Tambi

Altered Projects

Cool Cat - The Twinery

October 05, 2016
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Today I'm sharing a little treat bag that's a just because project! It's fun to switch up projects instead of always cards-cards-cards. I find it boosts my creativity when I create something non-cardish and it inspires me to think out of the box.