Tobi Crawford ink

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"

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Just Because - Sizzix UK

March 11, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Have you seen the new Sizzix 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folders?

I was surprised when I got it out of the package that it was much thicker and heavier than your normal embossing folder, and now I know why!

The results are impressive!!

The embossing is quite substantial, with grooves and edges at angles that truly make it 3-D.

I thought it looked lovely in the kraft paper so I set to work making a just because card.

I do anything colour-wise because of the neutral base, but I decided to go with a nice and fresh blue/green palette.

Supplies:

Sizzix 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Woven

Item #661261Stamp: Girl: My Favorite Things (retired) and sentiment: Label Maker SentimentsDie Cuts: My Favorite Things (Leafy Greenery)Copic MarkersThe Twinery Twine

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Custom Stamp Set - Cutting Cafe

March 07, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

A couple months ago Regina from The Cutting Cafe asked me if I would like to create a custom stamp set. I was just getting interested in hand-lettering and thought it would be cool to get some sentiments made from my own handwriting.

I stamped the "thanks" sentiment I drew all over the white cardstock in fun, playful colours. I added THANKS in Thickers letter stickers because the little sentiments didn't have as much of a focal-point in the end as I had hoped. Once I put the big letters down though, I was totally happy!

CLICK HERE for more info about creating your own custom stamp set!

The prices are really reasonable and the shipping is too... she sent my set to China for about $10!

birthday

No-Line Colouring - A Step-By-Step Tutorial

March 04, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

We've had a lot of requests for a no-line colouring tutorial because, let's face it - it's kind of scary!! The lines disappear and before you know it, you don't know what you're colouring anymore! Hopefully these tips will help you in your no-line quest!

(the markers I used)

Start with a very pale stamped image. I went so far as to stamp off the image once before stamping this "keeper." I did that so once the image is coloured in, the lines will not be visible.

Start with the darkest marker and set about adding the shadows. The more you shade the better - this helps a lot when the lines start to "disappear." If done correctly, your shading will tell you where your lines are!

Add the next lightest colour and gradually move into the centre. Make sure you blend those lines!

With the lightest colours, fill in the rest of the area. If you want certain features to stand out (like I did here with the whiskers and the nose), colour those FIRST before laying down your marker colours. Those lines will disappear and it will be hard to find them again.

Add in fun details like shading around the eyes, and eyeballs with pens!

One step further: because we stamped so lightly we can actually add in features that weren't there in the first place, like the muzzle or the curve of his back legs. These details were added with a pastel-chalk pencil - a lot of people use pencil crayons for this type of detail too!

Mount your creation on a simple inked background and you're done!!

I actually made three - all with different sentiments.

I hope this was helpful!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Thanks Mini-Cards - SRM Stickers

February 14, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there! Happy Valentine's Day (if you celebrate it..) and if not, I'm here with some pretty Spring-inspired cards.

Before you know it the flowers will be blooming and the world will look green and fresh again. My entire colour-scheme is based on the patterned papers I chose, and the design/layout was inspired by a card on Pinterest! I take inspiration from where I can, because on these cold winter days the mojo isn't always flowing like it should ;)

Every card is a little different as I mixed and matched the greenery and flower sizes. When I am mass-producing or making a set like these guys, I don't like to make them exactly the same because I get bored easily... Lol.. VERY easily. So making small adjustments and changes keeps it fresh.

I played around with the die cut flowers too. Sometime the small pieces were inlaid, and sometimes I put them on top for a raised effect...

I also added the foiled die cut for a little "pop." Initially I didn't have it on the card but I felt it needed something. I think the metallic element is a nice texture-change as well.

SRM Stickers: We've Got Your Sticker Thanks

Die Cuts: My Favorite Things

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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Chinese New Year Cards - SRM Stickers

February 03, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Nihao! Today I'm here with some custom-cut vinyl pieces for cards. Did you know it was recently Chinese New Year? Until I moved to China I had no idea how big of a deal it is... If possible, it's bigger than Christmas! The country (yes, of 1.5 billion people) literally shuts down so people can go spend time with their families and for two weeks you will be hard-pressed to find a corner store open for business... So it was no surprise to me to get a couple of requests for CNY (Chinese new year) themed cards.

When I first got the request I immediately knew I'd use red and gold, but I didn't have anything stamp or die-cut related to China or CNY. Enter in Cameo and vinyl!!

It is really hard to show that the cuts are indeed GOLD, but you can see the gorgeous detail I got, and then since it's basically a sticker, I just adhered it to the cardstock.

Here's another version:

This is more traditional with the CNY lanterns.

Lastly, this is a thank you for a Yoga teacher made with the same supplies, but just a different color-scheme.

Supplies:

Fancy Sentiment/Thanks

Stickers By The Dozen/Thank You

Vinyl

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Shoot For The Stars - MFT

February 01, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

I have been thoroughly enjoying my time off for Chinese New Years (a luxurious three-week holiday!) and staying up late when my mojo works the best!! I played along with last week's MFT sketch challenge.

It had all of these rectangles that seemed perfect for little shaker windows.

The stars inside are foiled with rose gold, and the star on the outside is cut out of metallic silver paper. Two metals is not something I would normally do, but I loved the colour combo in the end!

Supplies:
MFT - Count The Stars (and matching dies)
Patterned Paper: Prima, My Mind's Eye

Christmas

Christmas Down Under - SRM Stickers

January 30, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
0 Comments

Hi there! Today I am sharing a unique holiday layout! Unique because we spent the holidays in warm and sunny Australia!! We spent some time with relatives so we got a little "Christmas spirit," but otherwise we spent time in our tank tops in the hot, sunny weather!

I had hoped to use some of my Christmas papers for this layout but the colours didn't "go", so I decided to just match the colours to the main elements in the photo. Oh and can we talk about the photo? I'm hugging a koala!!!

I used to some Christmas stickers to remind myself that this was indeed Christmas holidays....

I also added sticker stitches here and there to unify the washi tape and paper elements...

Supplies used:
Sticker Sentiments/Happy Holidays
We've Got Your Sticker Plus/Holiday
Sticker Stitches Black

cameo

Sorely Miss You - FREE Cameo Cut File!

January 27, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
3 Comments

A friend and colleague is leaving us half-way through the year and I was asked to make a giant card to present to her tomorrow on our last day before Chinese New Year holiday.

I wasn't finding the right sentiment for this occasion so I thought alright Tobi... It's time to put your hand-lettering practice to use and design a cut file. So I did!

I drew the design in Procreate for iPad pro with the Apple Pencil, sent it to the Silhouette software, and I can't believe how well it worked!!!

So how about a freebie??

Download You Will Be Sorely Missed by clicking on this link.

(If there are any problems using this link or file, please let me know!! It's my first time!)

I designed this sentiment to be all one piece, (except for the dots on the "i") and I applied adhesive with a glue pen on the reverse side.

If there's enough interest I can share a few more sentiments like this that I've designed!
Thank you for stopping by!

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Just Because - MFT

January 22, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

I went on a huuuuuuuuge reorganizing rampage this weekend with my stamps and dies and came out at the other end inspired to create something.

I always check out MFT's Card Challenge blog to get ideas for sketches and color combos, and this week's sketch was nice and clean, so I jumped on it!

These little mice guys were colored with Copic markers and I hand-cut them out. (Too cheap to buy the dies, hahaha) and I mounted them on top of a little circle with the "London Eye."

I wanted the background to have something on it, but I didn't want it to distract the eye, so I stamped some of the images from the stamp set on white paper, then covered it with vellum.

That's all for now!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT - London Mouse, Label Maker Sentiments

Die cuts: MFT - Die-namics Label Tape, Stitched Scalloped Basic Edges

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye

Other: Gansai Tambi watercolours, Copic markers (Warm greys, R29/27/24/22, Y27, Y19/15)

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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

copic

Introducing: Animal House by Technique Tuesday

January 11, 2017
By Tobi Crawford
2 Comments

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Clear stamps from Technique Tuesday // TechniqueTuesday.com

Are you a card maker or paper crafter who loves to color? Check out the new Animal House stamps and matching steel dies.

You can purchase the stamps and dies individually. Or enroll in the monthly auto-ship program to receive 25% off. Plus for a limited time, you will also receive a FREE Go Wild stamp set if you join the auto-ship program!

Clear Stamps and Dies from Technique Tuesday // TechniqueTuesday.com

I couldn't wait to play with the new stamps and had to make a quick tag for valentine's day:

It makes me so happy to sit and colour a nice, uncomplicated image like this. Simple papers, simple layout and a simple colour scheme gives this tag POP.

I felt the background was a little too simple, so I added some Nuvo drops on a few hearts on the patterned paper. It elevates the paper from flat to 3-D with a simple step!

Sketch from Fusion Card Challenge:

Thanks for stopping by!!

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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Pages

Make Your Own Background - Mama Elephant

Just Because - Sizzix UK

Custom Stamp Set - Cutting Cafe

No-Line Colouring - A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Thanks Mini-Cards - SRM Stickers

Happy Birthday - Technique Tuesday

Chinese New Year Cards - SRM Stickers

Shoot For The Stars - MFT

Christmas Down Under - SRM Stickers

Sorely Miss You - FREE Cameo Cut File!

Just Because - MFT

Love You - Technique Tuesday

Introducing: Animal House by Technique Tuesday

Hello 2017!

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