MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     We have some fabulous new releases for you this month, this is one of them, Funky Flowers.
     The images were printed on white card arranged around the sentiment to form a frame. The sentiment should have come out green but due to a small hiccup with my printer it is a little more yellow, a lucky mishap as it turns out because now it goes so well with the flowers.
     The flowers are coloured in with some fine tip pens I have in my stash, then the image panel is mounted on a pearl orange layer before going on a Kraft card blank. Nice and flat for easy posting, here in the UK we have to pay more if it's considered too thick, something to do with the sorting machines I think.
     You can find this set in our Etsy shop but if you would like to win it then take a look at the release posts to find out how. Don't forget you can also win images by joining our monthly challenge.

Funky Flowers

   

  Happy Crafting. 

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     With Easter approaching here's a little project for table decorations using images from Tweet Tweet and papers from Egg-cellent Easter.
     The little bird house is cut from the patterned paper, with just a little ink added to the roof to darken it slightly. The birds are printed out twice for each design, with one image flipped to face the other way so they can be stuck together once cut out.
     I have chosen to 'tangle' the birds but this would be an ideal make for children as they could colour them in themselves. The only part that is not stuck together is the feet so they can stand up freely, they could just as easily be hung by a thread from a decorative tree branch arrangement.
   

Tweet Tweet

Egg-cellent Easter

 

    We have many more gorgeous designs available in the Etsy shop so please pop over and have a look.

    Our monthly challenge can be found here, you'll find lots of inspiration and an opportunity to win some stamps so this is well worth a look.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     As it's coming up to Valentine's Day I thought I would use one of my favourite stamp sets, I've Been Framed. Being able to mix and match the frames with the sentiments means there are many possibilities with this set.
     Black seemed a little harsh so this is all printed in a dark grey with a hint of red, onto a paper from the World Traveler set that's got a dusky pink overlay, I think it has a slightly vintage look to it.
     The mat layer and the edge of the card blank have been inked to match and a few tiny red gems added to the flowers to add sparkle.

I've Been Framed

World Traveler

     





     We have lots of new releases to show you this month but don't forget we still have some gorgeous sets already in the Etsy shop just waiting to be used. Have fun creating,

Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     These cards are a variation on this months MHK Designs challenge card, the same picture but with different words, the beauty of this stamp set is they are coloured images.
     I have written myself a little crib sheet so I don't forget how to do these again. My photo package sends the image to print out with the left hand side (viewed landscape) being the top of the paper, so to get the image on the righthand side of an A5 piece of card the correct way up I have to turn it around, then tell it it's a 6x4 card. It then prints it the correct way up on the right of the A5 card so I can fold it in half to make my CAS card. I printed the flowers first and then ran it through again for the sentiment.
     Sounds complicated?......it's not really, my explanation may not be that good but it does work, or should I say for my package and printer it works. I suggest you play around on copy paper to see what your set up can do. You may be lucky enough to have a package to do it all at once, this is what I've come across for my basic outfit.
     Making a batch of CAS cards like this is ideal for a small gift, a thoughtful way of saying thank you to someone.

Stencil In The Roses

Pretty Petunias

 

Designer Inspiration - Rocky

I would like to share with you just two of my favourite projects from 2016.

Using Open Bloom & Butterfly Wisdom

      This one makes use of printing on acetate as well as card and using just part of an image. MHK Designs digi stamps are so versatile, you can do almost anything with them, like decorating candles.

Using Fruit Borders

I hope you have enjoyed all our inspirational projects this year and we look forward to seeing you again next year with some more great images, Happy Crafting.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     Today's designer inspiration is a simple make that just had to be a poppy design, the sentiment completes it.
     The backing paper is from World Traveler, printed as a watermark, so that it's faded, and in black and white to achieve a grey look. The letter paper was then over printed with a poppy taken from Perfect Poppies and the sentiment from Thankful Thoughts.
     The poppy is coloured with alcohol markers in shades of red and green with bronze foil added to the centre to give just a little lift to the design.
     Once finished the paper was stuck on to a black card die cut tag leaving a small border all the way around, with the addition of red ribbon the tag is complete.

World Traveler

Perfect Poppies

Thankful Thoughts

   

 All of these digi sets can be found in the MHK Designs Etsy shop along with a whole lot more, so please pop over and have a look. If you would like to win some digi sets then please come and join in with our blog challenge, you might be one of our lucky winners.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     If you're looking for something simple to make for Halloween here's an idea for you. All you need for this is a battery tea light, some double sided tape, a pair of scissors and MHK Designs Trick or Treat paper set.
     The papers were printed on to thin card, to find out how much you need wrap it around the tea light and allow an overlap for sticking together. Fold your card in half so the fold runs around the light, then cut at regular intervals to around an inch from the edge.
     Put double sided tape around your tea light and along one side of your paper. Wrap the paper around the light and stick, then stick the edges together to form a cylinder, squash down slightly to open up the slits.
     Add a small strip of card for the handle at the top and the side decoration. These little pumpkins are die cut after printing images from Flight By Night and Spooky, you don't have to have a die cut machine as you could draw around a cookie cutter and cut out.
     This would be a great project to make with young children ready for Halloween and with battery tea lights it's perfectly safe too.

Trick Or Treat

Flight By Night

Spooky

   
      All of these digi sets can be found in the MHK Designs Etsy shop along with a whole lot more, so please pop over and have a look. If you would like to win some digi sets then please come and join in with our blog challenge, you might be one of our lucky winners.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     Welcome to a simple Halloween project for my Designer Inspiration this month. We don't have many callers on Halloween here in the UK, but when we do they do expect a little something nice. This small box will hold a couple of wrapped sweets and looks great hanging in a small tree or bush in your front garden (as long as it's not raining!!)
     The box shape is die cut from an A4 sheet of card printed from Trick or Treat paper set, I got three boxes from one A4 sheet. I printed it a little lighter to save ink. I have darkened the edges with Distress ink in Carved Pumpkin, well it had to be didn't it!
     The small image is from Eat Your Veg, it's the pepper. For this one I used my photo package to draw a face on it and shorten the stalk but you could do this just by drawing on it with a black pen. It's coloured, cut out and mounted on the box on thick foam pads.
     The boxes are quick and easy to make and look great hanging all over a small tree on your front step. If you don't have a bush or tree just put a few small branches in a heavy pot and decorate them.

 

Eat Your Veg

Trick or Treat

Both these lovely sets are available at the MHK Designs etsy shop. Don't forget to come and join our challenge and you may be lucky enough to win a set from MHK Designs, you don't have to use one of our designs but we would love it if you did.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     Hello and welcome to my inspirational project for August. I have chosen to use the Butterfly Wisdom stamp set again because there are so many things you can do with it and who doesn't like butterflies.

      This is just a simple card that makes a great everyday greeting,  you can jazz it up to be a birthday card or a get well message.
     I have printed the main image panel from the set at 70% opacity so it comes out a little bit lighter than the usual black. Using an alcohol marker I have coloured the background but not the butterflies.
     The acetate butterfly is printed at full strength black on to medium weight printable acetate and also coloured with alcohol markers. It is a little smaller than the one on the card but it doesn't seem to show  much because he's got his wings bent up in flight.
     The image panel has a narrow dark green mat layer on to a white card blank, very simple and relatively quick to make too.

Butterfly Wisdom

     Don't forget to come and join us in our challenge, you don't have to use an MHK Designs image to enter but we would love it if you did.

MHK Designer Inspiration: Rocky

     As we are celebrating Christmas in July I thought I would revisit two of last years seasonal releases, Holiday Deer and Christmas Past.
     The image of the deer has been altered slightly to remove some of the overhead foliage making it possible to use on a square card. I have used alcohol markers to colour the image and a glue pen to add glitter to the mountains and some foil berries.
     The mat layer is red foil, the same as the berries and then a layer of paper from the Christmas Past set altered to shades of green. With the addition of a die cut pine branch and greeting bauble the card is complete. The branch and bauble are on foam pads but it will still fit through standard post in the UK.

Holiday Deer

Christmas Past

      Don't forget to come back for more Designer Inspiration and new Christmas releases throughout July. If you can't wait to see what the new release are you can always pop over to MHK Designs Etsy shop and have a look.

MHK Designer Inspiration: Rocky

      This month I would like to show you how easy it is to make dimensional acetate butterflies using MHK Designs Butterfly Wisdom.
      On one A4 sheet of printable acetate I got nine large butterflies, you could get many more if better placed and smaller sizes. Two have been coloured with Alcohol markers which don't appear to react with the printer ink. They have been coloured on the rough, printed side of the acetate so that when turned over to the shiny side any possible marks are hidden.
      One butterfly has been scored down either side of his body and had his wings bent upwards, this is then stuck on top of the other butterfly along the body only.

    The image used is from Easter Blessings, coloured in with watercolour pencils, die cut and shaded with Distress Ink.           The image panel is mounted on a layer of paper from Christmas Past that has been colour adjusted with my photo package.
     Finally the butterfly is stuck on to the image panel using red line tape which is perfect for acetate as it's very strong.
     The card will lay flat inside the envelope making it easy for posting.
     I hope this gives you inspiration to try another way of using MHK Designs images, there really is a lot you can do with them, happy crafting.

   

MHK Designer Inspiration: Rocky

     My inspiration this month is made using a butterfly image from Beginnings and Endings and a sentiment from Stitched Sunflower.
     The backing paper has been made using the image placed at random across the page in Publisher, when printed I have used the draft function to get a faded look. Once cut to fit my card blank I have used Broken China Distress Ink to colour the edges so it matches the mat layer and the main image.
     The main image is coloured with watercolour pens, spritzed with a pearl spray and then cut out. It is stuck flush to the card along it's body but has foam pads under it's wings so they stand up a little, with hand drawn antenna.
     The sentiment has been cut out then had the corners rounded, this has also been inked to match the colour scheme. It is stuck on very thin foam pads. The mat layer is pearl paper which luckily matches the butterfly and the inking.
     It's a very simple card but that's sometimes just what we need, relatively easy to make, with a simple but uplifting comment.
     Come and join in our challenge, you don't have to use MHK Designs images but we would love it if you did. If you don't have any MHK Designs yet then this could be your chance to win some.

MHK Designer Inspiration - Rocky

     Today I have a project for you using one of our gorgeous digi paper sets called Damsel In Distress. 

      This set comes in a rather stunning pink but with a little help from my printer functions I have changed the colour to a very nice mauve.
     The origami box was made following a brilliant video by Christina Griffiths, here's the link, Christina's tutorial is very easy to follow.
     It was printed with a different pattern on each side of an A4 120gsm paper. One A4 sheet will make this box bottom and decorate the lid, you will need an A5 of co-ordinating card for the lid base.

      With the addition of some paper lace on the edges, some paper roses and a small length of ribbon for the lid the materials list is quite short.
      From an A4 sheet you can make a finished box that measures 3 1/2 inches square and 2 1/2 inches tall including roses.
     Just imagine making wedding favour boxes this way, if the Etsy shop doesn't have what you're looking for then contact MHK Designs about the possibility of a bespoke set.
     Digi papers are so versatile, you can change colour and size by adjusting your printer and being able to print double sided papers is a real bonus.

     

      Come and join in our challenge for the chance to win some digi papers and stamps.  You don't have to use MHK Designs products to enter but we would love it if you did.