It really is all in the words...

Well another month, another Claritystamp challenge.  Eventually, I've decided not to enter my original idea (I'll blog this anyway soon, so you can let me know what you think), and to go with this card.  I took inspiration from Barbara's blog a couple of weeks ago, (Thank you Barbara.  I hope you like my take on your idea), and decided to get out my Gelli plate and get painty fingers!!

 

First I stamped the Easel and Paintbrush in Potting Soil archival, and covered them both with post-it masks.

 

 

I put blobs of Buff Ttitanium, Sap Green and Process Cyan acrylic onto my Gelli plate.  What a great feeling, swirling the colours with my fingers:  I think I may have found my inner child!  The only thing I didn't want to do was to muddy the colours too much.  I found the paint was too thick on the first print I pulled, so I blotted the thickest areas with bubble wrap, and pulled this print without adding any more paint.  Yes, I could work with this one.

 

I just added two simple words.  I think we can all identify with the happiness that we find in creating art.

 

Then I masked off the background, and "painted" my canvas.  Once that was done, I masked off the brush and easel again and gently smeared some colour into the Gelli background;  using Stonewashed, Lettuce and Peach Bellini Adirondacks, and a little bit of Vintage Photo distress ink to create shadow below the easel and paintbrush. 

 

 

The final steps were to add a little extra definition with my new Spectrum Noir pencils, and some highlights to the words with a white gel pen.  Please leave a comment if you pass by;  its always nice to hear what you think.  Till next time.  Xxx 

 

 

Character Notelets

Hello there.  Its me again.  This has been a fantastic Clarity weekend;  spending Saturday with all my crafty friends at Maria Simms workshop for loads of Gelli plate fun, and then Barbara Gray on TV this morning.  I feel inspired...

These are a nice quick and easy make.

 

First, I masked off some ground for the character to stand on.  Then I sponged ink through the sunburst stencil.  I used Butterscotch and Mountain Rose Adirondack.

 

 

Then I masked off the sky and sponged on some Slate Adirondack.

 

 

All that was left to do was to stamp my chosen character in Black Archival, and simply mat onto some black card.

 

 

And here's the set. Hope you like them.  Till next time.  Xxx 

 

 

 

 

A 21st birthday card... Happy Birthday Melissa!

Where does the time go?  Can't believe that its May already.  This is a 21st birthday card that I've created for one of my work colleagues.  I used the Key to my Heart, Letterbox and Number sets from Claritystamp.  I did all the stamping in Slate Adirondack.

 

I made a mask to cover the padlock, then first used the Claritystamp Trellis stencil with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, and then the Claritystamp Leafy Swirl stencil with Dusty Concord Distress Ink to create a background.  I was careful to use low tack masking tape to create an equal border all round each panel. 

I used the same soft tones of pink and lavender Promarkers to colour in the padlock.  A very pale grey Promarker was used to add a subtle shadow and definition to the padlock and the keys.  This same Promarker was also used to make a border round each panel.

 

 

Both panels were mounted onto a single square of pale pink card.  I think the pastel background keeps this card looking quite feminine and doesn't overpower the design of the padlock and the keys. 

 

I hope you will join me in wishing Melissa a very happy birthday.  Thanks for taking time to pop in for a look.  Let me know what you think.  I always appreciate your feedback.  Till next time.  Xxx