More Clarity Stencils

Hi all,

Here's a quick card that I made for my sister using the beautiful Chrysanthemum Stencil.

I used the 7x7 Gelli card and taped the stencil on with low tack masking tape.  I then used the Clarity stencil brushes and two distress inks: Fired Brick and Squeezed Lemonade.  I used the Fired Brick working out from the corner and working more heavily in the corner.  I worked to the middle of the flower and then introduced the Squeezed Lemonade from the outer edge of the petals and slightly over the middle area.  This gave a tonal effect to the flower.

I matted the piece after slightly trimming it down onto some matching glitter card.  I then layered it onto a white card blank.  I finally added white organza ribbon to the spine of the card.

Really pleased...

Really pleased...I made top 3 at the Crafter's Companion July Challenge! This was for the card in the post below.
For the other winners click here!  Congratulations to the others and everyone who took part.  I am currently thinking about what I will do for their August challenge!
I will be back later today with some new cards!  Bye for now!

Crafter's Companion July Challenge - 'Show off your sentiments'

Hi all, here's what I have made for the Crafter's Companion July Challenge -  'Show off your sentiments'.  It's the first time that I have entered their challenge but definitely won't be the last as I use so many of their wonderful products!
This is the best I could get the photo to look as mirror card is hard to photograph.  You can see some of the shine though, so you can see it's mirror card.  I did mat the sentiment onto the same mirror card as the embossing was done on, however you can't make it out that well!

I am pleased with the result as I challenged myself to use something different to what I would usually do - use mirror card.  I was inspired to do so from catching C&C the other day.  The Spellbinders lady: Kim Hupke did it with an embossing folder and it made the mirror card look stunning by sanding the emboss revealing the white underneath.  It makes such a difference as to my taste mirror card is a bit intense but for me this technique really worked.

Here's what I used from Crafter's Companion:

White 8 x 8 card blank

Vintage Christmas Collection A4 Embossing Folder - Softly Falling (Background embossing)

Sheena Douglass 5” x 7” Festive Embossing Folders - Ornamental Snowflakes (Foreground embossing)

Ebosser (To emboss my folders and cut the snowflakes.  Crafter's Companion don't have it in stock at the moment though)

Coredinations Sand It Gadget Tool and Coredinations Dust Buddy - cleaning cloth (To sand off the top of the mirror card and then wipe up the mess!)

Spray and Sparkle Pearl Diamond Glitter Varnish (To spray the snowflakes)

Vintage Christmas Collection A6 Sentimentals Rubber Stamp Set - Let It Snow (Let It Snow sentiment Stamp)

Sheena Douglass White Stamping Card A4 - Pack of 60 (I stamped the sentiment on this and also cut the snowflakes from it.)

Darice Embossing Powder - Silver (To heat emboss the sentiment)

Collall TACKY GLUE 100ml - Quick drying glue (To stick the pearls on the snowflakes)

Collall ALL-PURPOSE GLUE - 100ml (To glue my mats and layers)

In addition I used blue mirror card, silver matt card, white pearls in 3mm and 4mm sizes and Spellbinders Cut, Fold and Tuck Snowflakes.

Sanding the embossed snowflakes after embossing the mirror card is not difficult.  You just have to go lightly to start with. Make sure you are working on a flat surface - not over the edge of your mat - and hold the card flat/.  Use the block in a circular motion and you should be fine.

I hope you all like what I've made.  Thanks for stopping by!

Clarity Card using my favourite stamp!

I made this card for my Dad's birthday the other week.  His and my Aunt's birthday are a day apart.  I made her a very different one though as they have different tastes - my Dad isn't into Sue Wilson flowers!

It only took a few minutes to make but I think it looks effective.  The stencil brushes are wonderful, I love using them.  I'm also in love with this stamp, I love the fairy tale feel to it.

I used the following Clarity products:
Abstract Squares 2 Stencil, Boy and Birds Stamp (which currently comes with a free rooftops mask worth £3), Word Chain Set 3 Stamps, Cardpack for 6x6 Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate and their wonderful Stencil Brushes.
I used Adirondack ink pads in Meadow, Stonewashed and Butterscotch and Black Archival.

I taped the stencil with low tack masking tape onto the Gelli Plate card - it is the perfect size for the stencils as it's made to fit them.  I then used three different brushes to put the colours into the background for the sky and grass.  After lifting the stencil up I stamped the boy and words into place.  I then mounted onto black card (which I gutted first) and an 8" x 8" card blank.  

I hope you like it.  I'll be back with another one tomorrow!

12 x 12 Canvas Layout

Hi all!

Well, the last term at school has been mega busy and I've not stopped, hence no blogging!  I now have the summer off so I will be back regularly blogging!

I have just got back from a brilliant Clarity Stamp retreat in Crowborough with the lovely Barbara Gray.  There are more people going again in a week though, so I will hold off posting what we did until then as it wouldn't be fair to spoil it for the next cohort.

Today I am blogging a canvas that I did for a friend at work and his wife who have just had beautiful baby Esme.

I made the flowers and title using Centura Pearl.  The flower and leaf dies were from Tattered Lace and the letters are from a Cuttlebug alphabet.  The canvas was pink when I bought it so no need for painting - I got it from Hobbycraft years ago but it had just sat in my stash along with the three different papers that I used here which are Basic Grey Lilykate collection and are a few years old.  I used my Martha Stewart circle cutter to cut the circle for the middle piece and the Martha Stewart Circle Border Punch system with the doily punch cartridge that it came with.  I stitched through all of the buttons and knotted each one at the back with embroidery thread before sticking them on with silicone glue.  (I always think projects look unfinished when buttons are put on without being stitched.)
I was pleased with the end result and my colleague was really chuffed when I gave it to him.  I hope you all like it too.

I will be back tomorrow with more crafty bits to share!

Thanks for stopping by!

MDF Seaside Plaque with Sheena Douglass' Stamps

Hi everyone!

I'm off away to a conference for a couple of days so quickly sharing something this morning that I made at a Sheena workshop a little while ago - I hadn't blogged it and I thought I should share.

Before using MDF you must gesso the background.  The Pebeo gesso (in the link) is fabulous quality and inexpensive.  This isn't a step that should be skipped as MDF sucks in your paints if you don't gesso first! It dries quickly and then you lightly sand it with very fine grade sandpaper.  Sheena showed us a technique that I had not used before which was using distress inks with Pebeo Studio Matt Gel Medium.  For the sky I used  faded jeans, the greenery was pine needles and I think it was tea dye for the sand.  I splodged the inks on my non stick craft sheet, squirted a bit of the gel next to them and made paints to create a light washed looking background. After stamping the puffin, beach and birds with staz on, I then used the technique again to paint them in.  These stamps are from  Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic Stamp Set - Sea Scapes.  I then inked the edges of the plaque with faded jeans distress ink and cut and dry foam. 

The shells were made by applying Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze - Set 7 randomly to the reverse side of a piece of Centura Pearl card.  I dusted over with an anti-static bag and then stamped all of the shells from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic Stamp Set - Sea Shells with Versamark.  I then heat embossed with an antique gold embossing powder.  The shells were then cut out - this took a little while but I don't mind cutting out!  I added the shells in a formation I liked by playing with them before sticking them down with sillicone glue.

The plaque was finished by tying a ribbon through the holes to allow it to hang.

I really loved making this project as I love the seaside and I love MDF as I think papercraft is more than making cards and scrapbook pages.  Home Decor is a great way to show off your work.

As I said earlier, I made this at one of Sheena's workshops, so I'm certainly not taking credit for the design as it is of course the wonderful Sheena's!  The workshops are great fun and you always learn lots.  She will be doing more in November time so it's worth popping over to her website to find out more nearer the time - I think they will be announced in the summer.  

Thanks for looking and enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

Second of two posts today!!!

I needed to make a Get Well Soon card for a family friend today so I got my Card-io Majestix stamps out.  I love this range of peg and accent stamps as they make simple stunning cards quickly.   

Here's what I made.

I used the Oriental Blossom Stamp Set which is a must have item from their range as it has the fabulous branch in it which can be used with loads of their other sets.  The large dragonfly is from their Dragonfly Garden Stamp Set and the cluster of smaller dragonflies are from their Mum's Garden Stamp Set.  You put the stamps on the end of the see through pegs.

I used an Espresso Adirondack ink pad to stamp out the branches first.  The arc of the branch stamps into a circle brilliantly.  I stamp it at 12 o'clock and then stamp either side of it without re-inking with second and third generation ink, then the same at 6 o'clock, 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock.   I then add in any extra branches where it looks like it needs it.  It's surprising how easy it stamps into a circle.  I only had to do it on a piece of scrap once the first time I used them to master the technique.  I then stamped the leaf first with Meadow Adirondack and then with Sage Versacolour around the edges of the wreath.  I stamped the two different flowers in between with Heliotrope and Amethyst Versacolour.  I stamped out the sentiment  using a Whispers purple brush nib pen for the ink so it would match the lining that I was going to do for the edge framing with the thin nib.  The dragonflies were stamped with Atlantic Versacolour.  I stamped out a similar design on the flap of my envelope.  

I then used Magenta Stickles glitter glue on the middles of the flowers stamped in Amethyst and Lavender Stickles on the middles of the flowers stamped in Heliotrope on both the card and envelope.  I finally used Star Dust Stickles on the wings of all the dragonflies.

I hope you like!  I'd urge anyone to give these little stamps a go as they are easy to use even for a beginner!