Anything but a card

Well here we go again!  The beginning of another month, and that can only mean one thing:  its time for a new Claritystamp Challenge.  This month, we are asking you to make 'anything but a card' and we hope that our design team projects will give you plenty of ideas.  It was really exciting to see what the rest of the design team came up with, and I can't wait to see all your fabulous creations. 

Main Ingredients
Small drawer unit from Ikea
Americana Décor Chalky Finish Paint in Everlasting
Americana Décor Ultra-Matte Varnish
Golden Open Acrylic Paint in Pthalo Blue and Nickel Azo Gold
Black Archival Ink
Grunge Paste
Black Micron Pen
Glue Pen
Glamour Dust Glitter
Jo's Bubbles Stencil
Flower Stencil
Wee Folk Stamps
Word Chain Stamps

It was my youngest niece's 16th birthday in February, so I decided to make something special to mark the occasion.  A set of drawers for her dressing table to hold her make-up and other bits and pieces seemed perfect.  First job was to paint the drawer unit with white paint.  This needed a couple of coats.

 

Now for the fun part...  I did a rough layout of what I wanted to do before I started.  I often do this as I find its a great help when I need to visualise how the finished project is going to look.

 

The first task was to sponge and blend the blue and gold acrylic through the bubble stencil.

  

 

 

Now for the stamping.  In the end, I went for a combination of meaningful words chosen from the word chains and some of the little girls chosen from the wee folk.

 

 

 Then, little by little, I added in some flowers using grunge paste through the flower stencil, sprinkling on a little bit of glitter while the grunge paste was still wet.

 

I have to admit that at this point, I was feeling a bit unsure about how it was all turning out.  Somehow for me, it just wasn't coming together.  Still, I'd come too far now and had to persevere.  I sanded back the grunge paste to take away some of the bling from the glitter.  Then I did a little bit of doodling with a micron pen.

 

I felt that just this little touch made it look so much better.  I heat set the doodling before varnishing, as a trial piece showed that without heat setting the micron pen, the wet varnish made it bleed.  Phew!  that could have been a disaster.

Well, the birthday girl, Emily absolutely loved it.  Here she is with me, and my husband Martin on a family night out to celebrate.

 

 

Just as a little footnote, I thought you might like to see Emily's card too.  Done in a similar style, but brushing inks through the stencil to create a background rather than acrylic paint.

 

I'd love it if you could take the time to leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Now its your turn.  Clarity stamps and stencils are so wonderfully versatile, and I can't wait to see what you are going to come up with.  Its all so very exciting.  Till next time.  Xxx