I'm sure by now most of you have met the Kit and Clowder Design Team over in the facebook group, or commenting on your gorgeous creations in the gallery or the monthly challenges. The design team consists of a group of beautiful people who love crafting and are there to be there for you all while I am writing up the next classes!! Starting now, every fortnight the Kit and Clowder team will be sharing a little snippet about themselves and discussing some fun crafting topics. Join in the fun by answering the questions the dt has in the comments section below! We would love to read all about your experiences too :)
If you see the dt in your travels, make sure to say hi to them as they are doing a fantastic job encouraging everyone with their crafting. If you would like to join the dt, why not enter our Guest Design Team Call? :)
The Kit and Clowder Design Team members are (Click their names to view their personal blogs):
Alyce, Amanda,Amy, Andrea, Elise,Eulanda, Rita, Stephanie, Tracy
1 - How did you get started cardmaking?
Alyce:: I first purchased my Copics for my Design course at university. I wasn't very good at them so didn't use them and left them in the packet ;) After my course ended, I looked online to see what I could do with my markers as they were so expensive! I found some gorgeous work online.. and the first stamps I found were The Greeting Farm. I love everything cute so i bought a whoooole bunch of them and just practiced practiced practiced day and night as I really wanted my colouring to look like the ones I saw online! :)
Amanda :: I came across a lady selling stamps at a craft show and thought it was a neat idea, it all snowballed from there.
Amy :: I got my first rubber stamps in a showbag at the Sydney Royal Easter show when I was about 10 years old. I pulled the old stamps out again a few years later, and in 2008 started making cards. Even though I don't use rubber stamps anymore, I can't bear to part with my very first one!
Andrea :: A good friend of mine has made cards for years and one day about 13 years ago she showed me how to use a butterfly punch and stick it on a card and that's where it all started.
Elise :: Started making cards in high school .. but easy peasy ones .. colouring Precious Moments images. Then stopped for years, and got back into it again whilst looking for scrapbooking inspiration on the web.
Eulanda :: I started cardmaking because my mother and sister were a couple of huge enablers! They asked me to start the hobby but I was far too broke and told both of them that in time, I would be able to join and join I did!! I have my own room dedicated to my hobby and I'm rather an all or nothing girl so I didn't want to start out little, as I know you can. I DOVE in. No dipping my toes here!!
Rita :: How I got started? I have loved coloring and everything crafty as long as I can remember, used to color for hours with my grandma… And for years now, I’ve been a graphic designer. In 2012, I got introduced to Operation Write Home (OWH) cards by my best friend who, at the time, was deployed overseas. So I started creating cards. Shortly afterwards, another sweet friend of mine introduced me to the fantastic Copic markers and on August 9th, 2013, I bought my very first set of Copic markers, have been coloring ever since!
Stephanie :: I started cardmaking with a valentine card tutorial in a magazine. I spent hours doing few folds and trying to make it look nice (even thought it didn’t!!), but I was hooked. After that, I started looking on the Web at different colouring techniques, going from Tombows with water brushes to Prismacolors and Copics.
Tracy :: I was searching on the internet and somehow found my way to a crafting card blog using magnolia images. I followed for a while and after a few weeks I braved it an ordered a couple of magnolia Christmas stamps, not having a clue how to colour or embellish and as they say the rest is history.
2 - How long does it take you to make a card?
Alyce:: Depending on how complex the image is will generally depend on how long. For example, a beautiful single image like Tiddlyinks might take me an hour, whereas a more complex Aurora Wings image might take me 2 or 3 hours. Making the card is usually 1-2 hours depending on if everything is playing nice and coming together easily ;)
Amanda :: If I sat down and made a card from start to finish I would guess 2-4 hours but I tend to do some, get up and do something else, come back to it etc etc. This also includes the coloring, unless I am trying to do pleats, then there is extra time and swearing involved. And matching copics to papers. I hold the paper up to my copic color chart and just pick which ones are closest. View Amanda's colour chart below!
Amy :: Total time depends on how complex the coloured image is. An image can take anywhere from 1 to 5 hours to complete, then another hour on top of that to create a card.
Andrea :: Anywhere between 2 and 6 hours I'm slow
Elise :: How long? Too long. haha! I rarely have time to complete a card in one sitting .. as I can only do it when time permits. So majority of the time, a card will take me days just because I'm working on it bits at a time.
Eulanda :: OMG TOO LONG!! Depends on what kind of card I am making but if it's one of my "doozies" it can be over 8 hours. However, I think I distract myself by having my Netflix on while I'm trying to create. LMBO!
Rita :: How long does a card take? I actually timed my coloring and the shortest piece I've ever had was 40 minutes, then creating a card can be as little as another hour but mostly 2-3 hours, especially if I'm not happy with the paper.
Stephanie :: I usually colour a bunch of images each night, and then when the mojo kicks in, I do a couple of cards, 3-4 per day, taking around 2.3 hours a card. I love starting from a sketch and then going on with the flow, adding lots of embellies and layers.
Tracy :: OMG I'm not sure I should answer this, lol. Ummm my colouring could take 1.5-3 hours but so can the design of the card. Do quick cards really exist?
3 - How do you choose what colours to colour an image?
Alyce:: I usually just look at my markers and wait for inspiration to come! Sometimes I look on a colour wheel to decide what colours to include. Generally I like to colour with no more than 3 main colours, as too many more than this can really start to look cluttered. I generally tend to use more vintage based tones rather than brights aswell, which is influenced by my favourite paper brands Pion Design and Maja Design. I generally know what colours the papers are that I have and tend to colour with what I know will match up easily.
Amanda :: I pick papers that I like and pull my colors for my image from that.
Amy :: I print an image that tickles my fancy and then choose whatever colours I like! I usually use the 'jewel' tones - bright green, turquoise, pink, purple and red as I find I get the most contrast with these. As I include background elements more often in my coloured images I find I am incorporating a lot more of the earthy and muted colours. The disadvantage of this approach is that I have great difficulty matching my coloured images to designer paper when it comes time to make a card, but since I like the colouring part more than the card-making part I don't mind so much :)
Andrea :: I look for inspiration on websites, blogs and facebook groups and choose colour combos from there.
Elise :: I just color with whatever I want .. as I color first before choosing papers. But I almost always gravitate toward the lighter colors for clothing ... like pinks or purples :)
Eulanda :: Colors - I normally pick my image, newest papers, figure out my theme and THEN choose my colors. I've tried coloring first but I'm not good at wingin' it. That usually ends in disaster!
Rita :: How do I choose the colors? Usually I have my papers ready that I'd like to use for the final piece and pick colors that go with it. But it can be the other way around too, especially if I have my heart set on a certain color combination, then the Copic colors are set, will just need to find the right paper to follow.
Stephanie :: First, I select a stamp and some papers, then I colour the skin and hair, and then I look at the colours that I want to pop on the image. I tend to go with the darkest ones, adding rich tones and shadings.
Tracy :: I always match my papers to my colour chart before I start colouring. I have 3 charts; copics, distress inks and pencils. I tried the other way round but there are so many variations of one colour that it took me an hour and a half to find papers to match. Wasted valuable crafting time in my opinion, so I always match first. Lesson learned :)
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So now you have heard from the Kit and Clowder Design Team... what are your answers to the above questions? :) Thanks so much for stopping by today! x
