Making cards for boys can be tricky. I’m using the Little Dudes digital stamps from Polkadoodles with ProMarker alcohol markers to make fun cards for my own Little Dude and his friends.
Keep on reading and I’ll show you how you can create your own cards for boys with Digital Stamps and Alcohol ProMarkers.
Step 1 – Choose Your Digital Stamp
The Digi image is from Polkadoodles, part of their Little Dudes range.
There are thousands of different digital stamps availible online. Click here to take a look at my favourites.
Step 2 – Print Your Digital Stamp
I print my digital stamps onto Ultimate Graphic 160gsm paper. It’s bright white so my colours really pop and it’s super smooth surface makes blending easier.
You don’t need a fancy or expensive printer to print digital stamps. I use a very old HP Officejet, any inkjet printer will do.
Step 3 – Choose Your Designer Papers
It’s usually a good idea to choose your designer papers before you colour your digital stamp. Use the colours of the paper to choose your markers.
For this card I’ve picked a pack of 6×6 inch papers by Craft ID. It’s called Colours Speak Louder Than Words.
I also like to choose some co-ordinating plain paper. I use this as a mat to frame my designer papers.
Step 4 – Colour Your Digital Stamp
I’ve coloured these digital stamps with my Winsor & Newton BrushMarkers. They are much more affordable than other brands but are still of excellent quality. I prefer the brush nib as it allows me more control over my pen strokes and makes it easier to blend.
I use Winsor & Newton Promarker Brush pens to colour most of my digital stamp card making projects and I highly recommend them.
I tend to choose three shades of each colour, a dark, mid tone and a lighter shade for highlights. I often include a grey or a pale brown shade to deepen a colour and create a shade that I don’t have.
You need to work quite quickly with alcohol markers. So It’s best to tackle one area at a time. I tend to leave each area to dry and work on a different part of the image to avoid the colours mixing.
I usually start with the darkest shade and colour where there would be a shadow or the part furthest from an imaginary light source. Then I go over this with the mid tone, flicking the pen to more colour into the centre of the shape I’m colouring. Finally I go over the whole area with the lightest tone.
After my image has dried a bit I often find I’ve blended too well and I go over the darkest areas again to deepen the shadow.
You really don’t need a lot of markers. I think I have about 60 different colours. However I would advise you not to skrimp on the greys and muted shades, they are so useful for adjusting other colours. If you click on the image above you can see all of the colours I have in my collection. These are the shades I would recommend investing in to get a good range of colours without buying the full set.
Here’s the shade’s I’ve used:
Promarker Brush Colours – Skin
Promarker Brush Colours – Blue
Promarker Brush Colours – Orange
Promarker Brush Colours – Red
Step 5 – Choose Your Greeting
I wanted a simple and bold greeting for this boys card. I had some big Happy Birthday peel offs in my stash that I got many many years ago. They were just the right fit for this card.
Step 6 – Choose a Card Blank
I tend to use Craft UK Card blanks. They’re great quality for everyday card making. I usually get the big value 50 packs which include envelopes.
Step 7 – Design Your Card
Gather your supplies together and lay them out on your card blank. Move them around, twist and turn your papers. Swap out papers for different designs. Play with your design and have fun!
I find that my designs are much more creative when I have scraps of papers. A scrap of the right paper is often a specific size or shape and the rest of the layout comes together around that one scrap.
Here are some of my designs to give you some inspiration:
Step 8 – Distress the Edges
I use the same colour of distress ink to shade the edges of my papers. It gives my cards a co-ordinated look.
I start by laying my paper onto a piece of acetate. You can buy acetate in sheets or you can cut it from packaging which is just as good. You do need a flat sheet ideally bigger than the edge of your paper or card.
After choosing my ink colour I dab the ink blending tool onto the ink pad and sweep it from the acetate onto the edge of my paper. I always use a smooth sweeping motion starting and finishing on the acetate sheet.
There are lots of blending tool availible. I have the Ranger one and I’ve been happy with it so I haven’t tried any of the other brands. I use one ink pad for each colour.
Step 9 – Choose Your Embellishments
Because this is a boys card I wanted to keep the embellishments to a minimum.
I’ve added a few brads into one corner and a strip of washi tape behind the image.
Step 10 – Assemble Your Card
I like to use 6mm double sided tape for most of my cards. It’s cheaper than the usual 12mm tape but it sticks just as well.
I use a pokey tool to remove the backing from the tape. It’s nice and easy and saves my finger nails from getting split.
Step 11 – Decorate the Inside Too
I think it’s such a shame to receive a beautifully decorated card only to open it and be faced with a blank page. So I use more of my designer papers to decorate the insides of my cards. I mostly use scraps leftover from the main design and a 10cm square of plain paper to write a nice message onto.
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Shop this Card Making Project
More Boys Card Making Projects
Pin it Now, Craft it Later
I do hope you have enjoyed having a peak at my latest card making project. Please feel free to use my handmade cards to inspire your own creations, pin it to your Pinterest for later.
Card Making Challenges I’m Entering
- Digi Choosday Challenge
- Polkadoodles Craft Challenge
- Creative Fingers Challenge
- Crafty Catz
- Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
- The Paper Funday Challenges
- Ally’s Angels
- The Creative Crafters
- A Perfect Time To Craft
- Classic Design Challenge
A Little Bit About Me . . .
Hey there I’m Bridie, a busy mum to two amazing humans, a spirited border collie puppy and a pair of sweet guinea pigs. We homestead in a cherished Edwardian terrace in not so sunny Lancashire, England.
When I’m not spending time with my children and menagerie, I’m usually to be found in my craft room creating and blogging or in the kitchen cooking up a big batch of something tasty. I’m always looking for thrifty hacks to save money on my crafts and recipes. Crafting doesn’t have to cost a fortune!
I’m obsessed with card making with digital stamps and ProMarkers. On my blog you’ll learn how to use digital stamps, how to colour them and how to turn them into stunning hand made cards. I share all my best tips and tricks to cut the cost of your card making.
Digital stamps are one of the cheapest ways of making cards. They are cheap to buy (sometimes they’re even free) and endlessly reusable. With a small investment in quality markers you can make hundreds of cards. I’m aways on the look out for deals and thrifty hacks to cut the cost of card making. The further you can stretch your budget, the more craft supplies you can collect!
I’ve included links to my favourite retailers for the products I’ve used to make my crafts. Click on any of the product images and links for full details. If you decide to buy any of these products I may get a small percentage of what you spend. There’s no cost to you at all.
Aran Knitting Baby Baby Scrapbooking Batch Cooking Beginner Scrapbooking Beginner Sewing Pattern Birthday Cards Budget Recipes Cards for Children Cards for Girls Chicken Recipes Christmas Christmas Cards Craft Sensations Dovecraft Easy Sewing Pattern Elasticated Channel First Edition Free Knitting Pattern Free Sewing Pattern Healthy Eating Healthy Recipe My Minds Eye Papermania Peek-a-Boo Patterns Polkadoodles ProMarkers Scrapbooking Sewing Sewing for Kids Sewing Pants Sewing Tops Sewing with Jersey Sewing with Wovens Simply Creative Sizzix Slow Cooker Recipes Soup Recipes Spellbinders Stitch Upon a Time Tim Holtz Top Stitching Vegetable Gardening Winsor Newton XCut
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