I do love a bit of fussy cutting...

Hello there!  Really sorry not to have had chance to catch up sooner, but its been a very busy couple of weeks for me at work.  And its the start of August already, and time for a new theme over

on the Claritystamp challenge blog.  This month we're showcasing a technique which you'll be able to do with either stamps or groovi:  fussy cutting.  

So here goes with my project;  inspired in part by last month's NDC stencil projects. I loved this stencil as soon as I saw it.  I started off by stamping the owls into place using black archival and covering with a mask.

I used the gelli plate with chalk Freso Finish acrylic to pull a print of the trees.  This dries almost immediately, so then I spritzed the paper, replaced the stencil and sprinkled on some Colour Bursts.  I used orange, with a tiny bit of yellow and hot pink.  You have to be a bit careful not to add too much water or the colour will spread too much under the edges of the stencil.

I kept the mask in place over the owls and used gold acrylic to pull another gelli print of the trees.  The mega mount is invaluable for perfect positioning every time when you are layering prints like this.  The gold just adds a very subtle shimmer to the trees.

I still felt that the trees needed more definition, so I set to work with my spectrum noir pencils, mainly in shades of grey.  I did this over a few days, just a bit at a time to make sure I didn't overcook it.

Plenty of shading round the owls brings them to the foreground and gives a real 3d effect.  It adds drama too, I think.

I made some background pieces by smearing distress inks in similar colours onto a blending mat and spritzing with water, before picking up with a sheet of paper.  Personally, I like to layer and dry each colour separately, rather than blending them together on the mat, as I find they're less likely to go muddy.

I then used these pieces to stamp out some oak leaves, then cut them out and started to experiment with where to place them.

I also coloured in the owls with spectrum noir pencils in shades of orange and hot pink.  For me the touch of pink intensifies the warmth and vibrancy of the orange. 

At this point I also decided to add in little snippets of orange and hot pink tulle along with the leaves.  They were all stuck into place using Prima 3d gloss gel.

You can see some details below, and then the finished piece which I mounted in a wooden frame.

I made this for my dear friend Maria Simms' birthday.  I won't see her until the 6th, so I really hope she'll like it.  She's been warned not to peek if she wants it to be a surprise!

I hope you like it too, and that I have given you some inspiration for your own project.  What will you do?  I can't wait to see...  Don't forget you could win a £50 voucher to spend on Clarity goodies.  But you have to be in it to win it, so go on give it a go.  Till next time.  Xxx 

Masculine

Hello there!  I can't believe how fast the time is speeding by;  its June already!  And a new month means the start of a new Clarity challenge.  This month we're asking you to make something for one of the men in your life;  now we all know how difficult that can be...  

Rather than revisiting some of my favourite "male" stamps, I decided to go for something different, and use the galleon and ocean swirl set that I bought a while ago, but which were still pristine and unused, (and no doubt, feeling unloved!)

I played about a bit to find the right colours and stencil for a gelli print I could use for my background sea.  In the end, it was Paperartsy Fresco Finish paints in Caribbean Sea and South Pacific, and System 3 Gold acrylic.  In my opinion, you really need a mega mount to produce perfectly layered gelli prints;  it makes it so easy to line up each layer so that you get that lovely hand printed edge.

I then brayered Peacock Feathers distress ink onto the gelli plate for the sky;  now you would be lucky to get this lined this up without a mega mount.

Then I stamped the galleon into place using black archival ink.

Then, using the same paints, I pulled a couple of prints with the Ocean swirl stencil on card and then on parchment.  I tore these out to create the wild, crashing waves.

A bit of whitework on the parchment swirls to add highlights, and to suggest the foaming crests of the waves.

  

I laid these out along with the stamps to make sure I was happy with the composition.

Then I stamped both the swirls into place with versamark and used one of the fancy Frantage embossing powders.  I particularly love this one with its little flecks of gold. 

I added a drop shadow with a light charcoal pencil;  you can see below what a difference it makes.

Using a versamark pen, I emphasised the crests of the waves with a little embossing powder too.

 For the final flourish, to create a really wild, raging sea I coiled some strips of card to make swirls of various sizes, then glued into place.  Now some of you will know that this is a technique we did at a recent retreat with Maria Simms.  And you will not be able to believe that I actually did more curling!  I can hardly believe it myself!

And that's it.  Simply edged with black and mounted on to a plain white card blank.

I hope you like the finished card.  I did enjoy the whole process of making this one;  playing with different ideas and techniques, and letting it grow and develop as it went. 

Now I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with.  There's some really great work entered into the challenge every month, and it gets harder and harder to choose our top 5.  No need to worry if you're a beginner though;  the winner is chosen at random, so everyone has the same chance to win that £50 Clarity voucher.     

I have set myself a challenge too:  to be back soon for a chat and share another of my cards.  So hopefully it won't be long till next time.  Xxx