Happy New Year and a giveaway!!

Hello dear friends,

Sindhura here and I'm sad that today's post is going to be my last post for Lulupu. I want to thank Karuna for being so understanding and generous through out the term. Also thanks to my teamies Rhiz and Chirali for always being their to swap posts and fill in with an extra post whenever required. Thanks for being so kind, girls! Also to each and everyone of you who visited and left beautiful comments...thanks a ton!

For today's post I have a simple and fun card to wish you all a very Happy New Year. :) I hope this year turns out to be wonderful for each and everyone of you and may all your dreams come true.

Here is my card...

I used a Hero Arts stamp set im my stash to stamp those solid circles and then stamped the alphas from a Mudra stamp set called Decorative Alphas on a separate piece of cardstock and fussy cut them out. Then, I adhered the alphas on a piece of vellum and adhered it on the stamped panel. Isn't it fun and simple?

I hope you give it a try. You can use any solid images for this effect. You can also use a lot of colours for stamping images. It would be even more fun.

Now...don't go yet...

To show my gratitude, I decided to giveaway a Rs.500/- gift certificate to one of you. Here is what you have to do..
1. Follow Lulupu blog.
2. Follow me HERE.
3. Leave a comment on this post telling me what your resolution for the new year is.
You have until 15th January, 2017 to comment.
Simple, isn't it? :)

I will pick a winner randomly after 15th Jan. Keep checking after 15th Jan for the winner announcement in a post on Lulupu blog.

Thanks for everything! Stay blessed.

Love
Sindhura.

Backgrounds with gelatos and stencils : Tutorial

Hello everyone,
      Riswana here today with my last post as Lulupu DT.! It has been a great journey being here with Karuna, super cool and sweet all the time, and my talented, supportive teamies Sindhu and Chirali. Thank you guys :* <3
     I have a mixed media card and a small tutorial on how to create cool backgrounds with gelatos and stencils..

Let's begin with the steps:

1.Apply gesso
         Apply one to two coats of gesso on the surface you are working on. This is crucial to get beautiful results..

2.Color with gelatos:
         After the gesso has dried, apply gelatos in the desired color combination. It doesn't have to be perfect.!

3.Use stencil:
         Place the stencil on the desired position (Here i have used the large stencil from Mudra so that it covers all of the surface). Use a wet baby wipe to wipe off the color through the exposed area of the stencil.

4.Seal with gel medium
         Gelatos are not permanent. So it's better to seal it with gel medium. And the background is ready.!

Use different color combos and stencils to make beautiful backgrounds. Here's a mixed media card I made using the same technique.. Here i used multiple stencils.!

Sponged acrylic paints through stencils for the focal point, sentiment is from Mudra stamps.

Hope you liked it.! Here are some of my personal favorite Lulupu DT Projects :)

 My first ever layout.!

Mini mixed media canvas

 Layered Vintage card

Card for Kids

Thank you all so much for the support and love.! It means a lot :) <3

Create. Have fun.
Rhiz

Holiday cards with GD Ujjwal

Hi everyone!

Sindhura here and I'm thrilled to introduce you to our lovely guest designer, Ujjwal Gupta. I totally love her style and her recent paintings are just jaw dropping!

Here is a bit about her... she answered a few questions for us to get to know her better.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your family.

Hello, My name is Ujjwal and I live in Pune, India with my husband and a 4 year old daughter. I have a Masters degree in Computer Application and have worked in a multinational company as a software engineer for a few years before calling it quits. Now I work full time as an artist, doing what I actually love.

2. How did you become interested in crafts and what inspired you to start blogging?

I have been into arts and crafts since I was a little kid. I volunteered to make charts and banners in school, would help my friends with their biology class diagrams and always made handmade cards for my family and friends. I discovered the world of blogging when I started working as a software engineer and I was hooked. It was one of my best friend's idea to start my own blog and I am so thankful to him for pushing me in that direction.

3. What are some of your "go-to" supplies for crafting?

Watercolors and stamps are my favorite go-to supplies at the moment.

4. What is your favorite crafting technique?

I love stamping. Stamps are so versatile and there's so much you can do with them. Stamping was what intrigued me the most when I discovered blogging and it still remains my favorite till date.  

5. How would you describe your crafting style?

I like clean and simple style with pops of color.

6. How long have you been crafting?

I have been crafting since I was a kid and officially blogging about it since past 8 years. 

7. My signature style

Clean, simple and full of colors. 

8. Who are some of your influences? Who has been your inspiration?

I have met so many wonderful people in this beautiful journey even if virtually. There are so many people who do beautiful work and are great in one thing or the other. It would be tough to name just one but I genuinely follow them all to stay inspired.

9. When not crafting , what keeps you busy?

A super active 4 year old is handful and takes up most of my time. Also, I love gardening, cooking and travelling. 

10. What are you currently working on?

Currently on my table is a commissioned order for a pregnancy journal. 

Now, let us see what she made for us to ooh-aaah over. :)

Hello,

This is Ujjwal and I am so excited to be guest designing today at Lulupu today! Since holiday season is here, I wanted to share some ideas of creating holiday cards with non-holiday stamps that you might already have in your stash. My trick for using non-holiday stamps for holiday cards is to use the holiday colors and incorporate holiday elements. 

These are the two cards I created today and I have step by step instructions for you to follow and make your own cards for family and friends.

I will be using this Mudra stamp set for both the cards

Wreath Card 

Instructions

Step 1: Cut kraft cardstock to 3.75" X 5.5" and draw a circle as a guideline for the wreath.

Step 2: Using black watercolor and paint brush, add a few splatters and let dry.

Step 3: White heat emboss the small leaf a few time along the circle guideline on the kraft cardstock.

Step 4: On white cardstock, white heat emboss the flowers and other 2 leaves a few times.

Step 5: Color the flowers and leaves using distress inks and a sponge dauber. For the flowers, I used Festive Berries Distress ink and for the leaves I used Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress ink.

Step 6: Fussy cut all the leaves and flowers.

Step 7: Arrange the flowers and leaves in a wreath following the circle guideline and adhere in place.

Step 8: Stamp the sentiment using black Archival Ink and nestle it in the center of the wreath.

Step 9: Mount the Kraft card panel on a green card base using foam adhesive.

Step 10: Add yellow accents on the flowers using Ranger Enamel Accents.

Ornament Card

Instructions

Step 1: Cut kraft cardstock to 3.75" X 5.5"

Step 2: Sprinkle some water and add white embossing powder. The embossing powder will stick to the white areas. Heat set the embossing and set the panel aside.

Step 3: On white cardstock, white heat emboss the flowers a few times.

Step 4: Using 3 different sizes of circle punches, punch out 3 circles with the heat embossed pattern.

Step 5: Color the punched out circles using Festive Berries Distress ink and sponge applicator.

Step 6: Apply versamark embossing ink to the edges of the circles and white heat emboss them.

Step 7: Arrange the circles of the Kraft panel that was created in step 2 using foam adhesive.

Step 8: Add twine and twine bows to the circle to make them look like ornaments.

Step 9: Mount the Kraft card panel on a Kraft card base using foam adhesive.

Step 10: Add yellow accents on the flowers using Ranger Enamel Accents.

I hope you feel inspired to use the stamps in your stash and create some holiday cards this season!

-------------------

I just love these cards! They are so bright and festive! Thanks so much, Ujjwal for accepting our invitation to be our GD. 

That is it for today dear friends. See you soon again! Have a very Merry Christmas everyone! See you!

Instant Layout Tutorial

Hello.

Chirali here with the very last post as a DT. Lulupu was the one whogave me a chance to become a spotlight designer twice and Design Team Member (My very first) and that too within one year of the beginning of my crafting journey. I can't thank enough to Karuna for such a big opportunity for which any crafter dreams of.

So, today I am going to share a very quick layout which one can make in no time. It includes lots of fussy cutting and that's it (almost ;)).

I cut all the things i wanted before starting with it.

A chipboard frame as a border. I cut two corners to make a space for two photo mats. I painted the whole frame with gesso and then distressed it to give woody effect (Couldn't take picture of process but it's as simple as i wrote)

Random arrangement of fussy cut embellishments and started with sticking them. I adhered almost everything with foam tape to give 3D effect.

And we are done.

Some close-ups:

I hope you liked this jungle kinda theme layout which is going to have two black and white photos of cute babies.

And, last but not the least, my favorite projects which I made for Lulupu:

More techniques using Viva Decor - Inka Gold Silver

Accordion Cutout Card - Tutorial

Mixed Media Layout

Detachable Mini Album with pictorial

Acrylic Mini Album with tutorial

Simple Techniques of Water Colouring for Beginners

How can I forget my most special Spotlght designer posts.! (Can't even resist from showing them ;))

Bird House - Tutorial

Box Frame - Tutorial

I am going to cherish this period a lot not only because it was my first but also for such a supportive team.

Thanks a bunch.

Love,
Chirali. :)

Supplies used:
1. Fairy Land Premium Paper Pad 12"x12"

Alphabet projects - Tips and tricks

Hello everyone,
        Riswana here with you today. It feels so good to be blogging after my short crafty break.! I was way too excited when Karuna offered a whooping 1000 INR voucher to shop at Lulupu, the craft lounge !! Of course I couldn't stop there and added my own pile of wishlist goodies on top of it.. and here's my awesomee haul..

I can't wait to work with them and will be sharing the project in my next post. Stay tuned .!

Today I'll be sharing few projects based on Alphabets.. I am always fascinated by them and hoard a big stash of craft supplies based on alphabets, be it stamps, stickers and so on. They are really versatile and I absolutely love that fact. So here we go..

1.Chipboard Alphabets
         Here's a personalised birthday card with the bold Maya Road chipboard alphas in the focus..

    I used Distress inks and gelatos for creating the background on a Neenah solar white CS
    I drew the animals with Brusrtro fine liner pens (they are waterproof) and colored with Zig CCRB pens.

    The chipboards were covered with gesso, heat embosssed with whit EP and coated with glass bead glitter gel for added sparkle and texture.
     The sentiment is from Mudra's Let's Party stampset, white embossed on a red CS and made into a banner.

     I made the card for a sweet Kid's birthday with the party theme being Noah's ark.! i added some baker's twine to go with the sea theme and finally added some sequins to finish off the card.

2.Alphabet stamps
        I can never get enough of alphabet stamps. I use them for adding my own quotes in art journal pages, sentiments on cards and what not. This time I've made a DIY personalised quote frame with alphabet stamps on the focus. This is my first try and I love the results.

      I cut out a Chipboard frame to the required size and coated it heavily with gesso,
      I added Texture paste through Tim Holtz flourishes stencil.
      I sprayed on some Dylusions in the colors of Vibrant turquoise and Crushed grape.
      After it dried, added some inka gold and gesso to bring out the relief areas.

      For the quote, I used a variety of alphabet stamps in different fonts and sizes. Heat embossed few words with Purple and Gold EP. Added some flourishes with Mudra's Fancy flourishes stamp sent and Versafine ink in the color of mint.
      The frame is good to go to be mounted on the wall or displayed on a table.! With Alphabet stamps, the possibilities are truly endless..!!

3.Doodled Alphabets
         If you are a fan of hand drawn elements, again a simple sentiment can be the main focus of your card.!

I just doodled around the alpbhets in a plump sort of way :) I find this font to be really cute.!! Filled in with bright vibrant colors to make the sentiment stand out.
Background is created by using distress inks and doodled upon random physics elements with Uniball signo white gel pen.

I hope you found this post helpful and got some new ideas to try out your own alphabet projects.!
And yes, our December challenge is here with a cool holiday theme. Check out the details Here and do link your projects.!

Supplies used:
Mudra stamps - Brushed Alphas
Mudra stamps - Fancy Flourish
Mudra stamps - Let's party
Inka Gold

C ya soon.
Create. Have fun.
Rhiz

One stencil- four different backgrounds.

Hi everyone,

Sindhura here. Hope you are all doing well. I wanted to show you how one stencil could be used to make 4 completely different looking backgrounds.

I used a stencil by Mudra...

Here are the different variations of using the same stencil on different papers and/ inks...

Brown ink on red cardstock

Gold heat embossing on red cardstock

Heat embossing with red embossing powder on vellum

Red ink on white cardstock

The first and last are more commonly used. The only difference is the color of the base cardstock.

The steps I followed are
1. cut a piece of cardstock more than the required size. Thiis lets you to trim of the edges or die cut with nestable dies for a more cleaner look.
2. Secure the piece of cardstock and stencil separately with washi tape or any temporary adhesive to make sure that the stencil doesn't move while dabbing ink through it.
3. select colours of your choice and dab them on the stencil with  sponge dauber.
4. Carefully remove the the stencil and wipe the colours off with a wet wipe or under tap water. some inks leave stains on the stencil permanatly which is OK. Once washed they don't transfer the ink the next time you use the stencil. let the stencil dry before you store.

For the second and third variations, I followed the following steps.
1. brush the cardstock pieces with anti-static powder.
2. cut a piece of cardstock more than the required size. Thiis lets you to trim of the edges or die cut with nestable dies for a more cleaner look.
3. Secure the piece of cardstock and stencil separately with washi tape or any temporary adhesive to make sure that the stencil doesn't move while dabbing ink through it.
4. Dab the versamark ink pad directly on the stencil till you get proper coverage on the area.
4. Carefully remove the the stencil and heat emboss with the embossing powders of your choice.
5. wash the stencil immediately with mild soap under tap water. Let the stencil dry before you store.

Here is how they look side by side. See how strikingly different they all look.

I hope you give these techniques a try.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sindhura.

Challenge #67 Winners

Hello everyone,

          Chirali here today with the winners for our last Challenge #67 Geometric  .! We had so many fabulous entries last month and we loved each and every creation. Without further ado, Here are our top 3..

Criar

The perfect triangle background with shaker triangle portion and embossed sentiment.!!

Richa Maurya

A beautiful tent card with gorgeous pot steals the show.!

Wei Wei Wang

Amazing blast of colours you will find!

And the winner is.....

Rahmat

A perfectly designed card for this challenge. It's just so neat and clean and yet such gorgeousne

Fabulous work Rahmat.

CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS.!!

Grab your badges Here. 

Rahmat,  please write to hello@lulupu.com to claim your prize.

A big thank you to all who joined us in this challenge and we sure hope you would join us again in our Current challenge too.! 

Love,

Chirali. :)

Christmas card in classic colors

Hello everyone,
     Riswana here with you today. Christmas spirit is in the air and we have a challenge exactly based on that. Find all the details about Challenge #68 Here. I am sharing a christmas card in classic colors of red, green and gold.

I stencilled the base with distress inks (festive berries, mowed lawn) through wood grain stencil used in a plaid fashion. I drew the bow with Brustro fine liner pens and colored with Zig clean color real brush pens. I went straight with the markers and didn't use water to retain the intensity of the colors.

Used Uniball Gold alcohol marker to draw in the gold details. Added few highlights with uniball signo white gel pen. Finally heat embossed the greeting with Ranger superfine Gold embossing powder.

Hope you liked it. Don't forget to link your creations on our current challenge Here.
Create. Have fun.
Rhiz.