Cardmaking collaboration

I am blessed to have a very dear friend who has a passion for cardmaking, as I do and, at least twice a year, she drives from the city, five hours south to the town where I live, for a week of cardmaking collaboration.

We are literally in the craft room all day, every day (apart from meal and coffee/tea breaks), and it’s amazing how many cards we create in that week. However, the really unique thing about tis crafty week is that we develop ideas to challenge ourselves in our cardmaking. We also think of things to get us out of our comfort zone. We try techniques we haven’t done before or haven’t done in a while, we use colour palettes we may not have used before but, most of all, we have fun and enjoy our creative time together.

Here are some of the things we’ve challenged ourselves with. Some were definitely easier than others.

• Use a colouring medium you don’t normally use. (I’m a watercolour paint and colour pencil girl, so my challenge here was to use alcohol markers.)

• Blind pick a colour palette card from the Colour Cube by Sarah Renae Clark and make a card.

• Create fun fold cards (some were quite complicated).

• Make a card using minimal supplies; no stamping or die cutting (except for the sentiment).

• Create a card using complex masking.

• Create card scenes.

• Use layering stencils.

• Use layering stamps.

• Use layering die sets.

• Create your own patterned paper.

• Make a mixed media card.

• Make the most of embossing folders.

• Create a card making commercially printed patterned paper the hero.

• Use a die in three different ways.

• Make your own texture pastes.

• Use different mediums to make a variety of backgrounds.

• Create a monochromatic card.

• Use a stamp set you bought but decide you don’t really like it now!

• Make a card using a stamp set or die set the other person has chosen for you.

I know that it’s not possible for everyone but, if you have a cardmaking buddy who lives near you, I encourage you to get together on a regular basis to craft and challenge each other to learn and/or practise new techniques or methods.