Clean and crisp and even

Hello there.  I just realised I still had 2 cards left from the July show that I hadn't blogged, so here they are.  Well actually, I came on here for something else, and after seeing Jane Telfords's blog yesterday, I thought maybe it wasn't too late to blog them after all.  Its been a very exciting few days with the news about Clarity's move to Hochanda;  I know I can't wait for the launch tomorrow. 

 

 

This first card was made by stamping the large greeting in black archival and masking off the rectangle in the middle of the card.  I then brushed cracked pistachio and mermaid lagoon distress inks through one of the abstract squares stencils.  Then I chose to mask off a few of the squares and stamped through some of the "New Year" sentiments in black archival.  I drew in the frame for the "Merry Christmas" sentiment with a black micron pen, then coloured both it and the sentiment with the matching distress pens.  

 

 

Keeping the main part of my design within the centre of the square framer stencil;  to start with, I stamped the snowman in place without the line across the bottom.  I masked him off using masking fluid.  I then used the ploughed fields stencil, and brushed through a couple of hills very gently with cloudy blue adirondack ink.  Then I made a mask to cover the land, used masking fluid for the snowflakes, and brushed through denim adirondack for a dramatic night sky.  All that was left to do now was to stamp the word chains and the wee boy into place, then outline the scene with a black micron pen.  For a finishing touch, I added a tiny bit of colour to his carrot nose and his hat band.

 

I really enjoyed working with these stamps and I hope you will too.  It seems such a long time ago now since I made these.  I am planning in some time soon to get my Christmas cards made:  will I do variations on some of my samples, or something completely different?  I'll mix it up I think!  Till next time.  Xxx

Groovi baby!!!!

 

Hello everyone!  Was it really only yesterday that I last blogged?  To tie in with an amazing Groovi week over at http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi I thought I would blog my very first completed parchment effort.  A big thanks to Barbara Gray and all the Clarity team for this wonderful range of products:  I for one, would definitely not have tried this craft without them.  I'm just a beginner, right at the start of my parchment journey, but I love getting in the groove:  its so relaxing.

 

 

Having spent a day at last months Clarity Shrewsbury learning the basics from Maria Simms, I put it into practice for this wedding card using:

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi/18164-/Groovi-Plate-Starter-Kit 

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi/18138-/Butterfly-Wreath-amp-Meadow-Grasses-Groovi-Plate-Set

There's a great offer on all things Groovi this week, so why not treat yourself.  Till next time.  Xxx

Bingo!!!

Well its 1st August, so its time to launch a new Claritystamp challenge.  We had some wonderful entries into last months challenge;  its going to be very hard to choose a top 5 from among them. 

 

This month we're challenging you to a very different game of bingo.  Pop on over to the Claritystamp challenge blog for details.  My card uses a vertical line:  stamp, die and gilding flakes.  I also fell in love with the NDC stamp, and took some inspiration from one of Barbara's projects to make an anniversary card for a couple that spent the first years of their married life in India.

 

 

I used a mixture of distress inks to create the background and stamped the elephants into place using black archival.  I covered one side of a piece of adhesive sheet with gilding flakes and then used a Sizzix honeycomb die to cut it out.  I also cut it out again in black card.  I used both the 'innies' and the 'outies' to create a framework for my sentiment which was stamped using the wordpress letters in black archival.  The final touch was to fussy cut flowers from paper coloured with Oak House Studio Colour Chemistry sprays and glue them into place.  For me, this creates a feeling of festival and celebration:  perfect for an anniversary.

 

Well I can't wait to see your entries for this month;  will you be brave enough to go for a full house? or will it be a vertical line?  or the four corners?  Its a great chance to show off all those goodies in your crafty stash.  You've got nothing to lose, and you'll be in with a chance to win a £50 Clarity voucher.  Go on, give it a go.  Till next time.  Xxx